View from China | From Line to Zone

Qian Feng

The recent violent and bloody conflict between the frontier forces of China and India have caused serious casualties, something rare in the past 45 years (see the note at the end of the article). The conflict was caused by the overlapping of old and new problems between the two countries and dramatic changes in international and regional situations. This aggravated the complicated situation on the border, seriously damaging the political mutual trust and public support between China and India. Cumulatively, all this has made future development of China-India relations a lot more uncertain.

Since the border has not been completely demarcated objectively, the unique climate of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau results in disputes between Indian and Chinese border guards, usually taking place in spring and summer. In the winter, when the plateau is covered in snow, many outposts are almost isolated and border patrols find it extremely difficult to continue or even cease operations altogether. When the snow melts in the summer, border patrols return to normal. Some areas which are cross-patrolled by both sides have higher risks of friction along the border. Such incidents have long been resolved at the frontline, but this time, the normal confrontation has turned into a series of bloody conflicts. It is a shocking and distressing matter for both sides.

Since the 2017 confrontation happened in Doklam, senior leaders in China and India have made great