There is a slightly breathless and overly-generalized, yet consequently readable, post at China Matters regarding Sino-Indian competition in the northeast Indian border regions.
Or perhaps you prefer rather stunning footage of a Maoist demonstration in the Nepali capitol:
On June 25, 2009, Qin Gang had this reassurance:
Q: Are you expecting the newly-elected Nepalese Prime Minister to visit China in the weeks to come?
A: China and Nepal are friendly neighbors that share a peaceful and friendly boundary. We’d like to strengthen high-level exchanges with Nepal, deepen our cooperation in various fields and further promote our good neighborliness and friendly relations. As for Nepalese Prime Minister’s visit to China, I don’t have any confirmed information yet, when there is, we’ll release it in due course.
Isn’t it good to share peaceful and friendly boundaries? China has indeed been ramping up its soft-power activities in Nepal, and with good reason. India, and concern about Tibet, are major players in perceptions of the PRC. Thus this rather interesting tour/exhibition to eastern Nepal for the PRC ambassador there last month, to “sing high of the dramatic development of Tibet Autonomous Region of China after it initiated the democratic reform in 1959.”
If you think China isn’t worried about the implications of India’s rise, read Qin Gang’s November 20 press conference at the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here we have very little Obama, but quite a few questions surrounding India which are worth reading. They are along the lines of this Xinhua editorial which evokes Indian apprehension at the recent Sino-U.S. joint statement signed by President Obama:
Those uneasy about closer Sino-US ties are not only conservatives back home who are critical of Obama. There are pressures from elsewhere, too. On the eve of the Indian Prime Minister’s state visit to the US, New Delhi has shown itself to be wary of the China- US Joint Statement issued last week. Japan has also revealed its fear of being neglected, and Europe, a passenger in the front seat, is worried at being pushed to a rear seat.
And the Huanqiu Shibao crows about India’s nervousness that India is being surpassed by China in statistical terms of English speakers. As further evidence of the fact, the newly-minted Global Times, the usually-sanitized version of the Huanqiu Shibao, will be carrying the linked story in its English version of November 23 (not yet published or translated, however).
In the meantime there is this Global Times assurance (replete with untranslated map) that China isn’t interested in breaking off chunks of Kashmir:
Adam Cathcart 