In yet another of his denunciations of alleged Chinese territorial greed, Brahma Chellaney, in his July 26 article, "China's salami-slice strategy, "includes Chinese incursions across the claimed Line of Actual Control in the Ladakh portion of the Sino-Indian frontier.
Rahul Singh, writing in the Hindustan Times of July 30, quotes a top Indian military source noting that Indian incursions across the Ladakh LAC have been far more frequent than Chinese. The much-publicized recent Chinese incursion in that area was clearly in response to an Indian outpost being established alongside China's sensitive Tibet-Sinkiang highway well to the north of the LAC.
I would also point out that China's current acceptance of the Sino-Indian LAC, in Ladakh and elsewhere (Assam mainly), is already a major concession to India, considering its dubious legality as the result of a 19th-century British imperialistic land grab and subsequent arbitrary Indian expansions.
Chellaney also slams China's moves in the South China Sea, toward the Spratley and Paracel island groups especially. He, like so many others, seems unaware of the fact that Japan, in its 1952 peace treaty with the Republic of China, gave up its sovereignty not just to Taiwan but also to these two island groups, with the ROC as the presumed recipient of all.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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