-By Tapas Dey

The anti-national communists in India and their apologists would have us still believe in the blatant falsehood that USA continues to be the lone imperialist power in a uni polar world. They have examples to cite like the war in Afghanistan, Iraq , boiling situation in South China sea , US led sanctions on Russia and the ongoing war on terror in Syra. But what they turn their eyes away from is that the USA, smarting from colossal economic pressure on account of murderously expensive overseas engagements, has been on the retreat over the past few years. It is the unfinished tasks in many conflict zones in the world that have kept the USA engaged in economically self-destructive misadventures.

Chinese, immensely enriched by economic reforms, holds the financial purse strings and has already emerged as the foremost imperialist force in the world. The Han Chinese chauvinism which always lurked in the Chinese party and leadership is now finding full expression. Shortly after capturing power in 1949 the Chinese communists had first turned their eyes on hapless and Buddhist nation Tibet and captured it..

The Chinese army launched a massive attack on the Indian army and inflicted a heavy debacle on us . More than twenty five thousand square kms of Indian territory continue to be illegally occupied by China in Aksai Chin. Actually it had been an internal necessity for China because more than three crores of people in China had been dying on account of Mao’s disastrous ‘Great Leap Forward’ policy or rapid industrialization . So the idea of war with a soft neighbor like India was an easy option to divert attention and retain power base. The terrible famine in China and huge death toll of more than three crores of people have been faithfully researched and reported by none other than Prof. Amartya Sen.

China’s expansionist and imperialist character had again come to the fore in February 1979 when a minor dispute over four bordering village had led the Chinese army launch a massive assault on fellow communist country like Vietnam. However, this time the Han Chinese got a bloody nose and their army had to retreat after suffering a casualty of thirty four thousand soldier. There were two other minor border clashes with India in the late sixties and early seventies but the Chinese failed to make any headway.

But with much flabbier purse strings and treasuries post economic reform, the Chinese have been again flexing muscles on the Bhutan-Sikkim-India tri -junction at Doklam valley. Their incursion was forcefully resisted by the Indian army and stagnation has been continuing. There are sabre-rattlings and rhetorical statements on the Chinese parts but this has not yet degenerated into open attack or war because India has played its card well by stressing dialogue and peaceful negotiation . May be this problem will not further escalate but the real Chinese intention seems to be keeping Indian army’s attention away from Jammu and Kashmir to relieve its client Pakistan and to increase the pressure on Kashmir. Having been leased substantial chunks of POK land by Pakistan China has developed a real stake in Kashmir now in the interest of its dream project the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to which India on legitimate grounds protest. But despite the apparent calm China is trying to act as the big bully like in the South China Sea and the government of India should be on its toes with the best possible preparation to thwart the evil Chinese edition.

The writer can be contacted at dey.tapas@gmail.com

DISCLAIMER: The opinion expressed in the article belongs to the writer and TNT-The Northeast Today may not subscribe to the same views