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| US backs India over border tension with China, calls Beijing behaviour provocative and disturbing | | | Agencies
The US on Wednesday supported India amidst the rising border tension with China with a senior diplomat describing Beijing's aggression as "not always rhetorical" and accusing it of continuing with its "provocative and disturbing behaviour".
Military sources in New Delhi said that Indian and Chinese armies have rushed in additional troops in areas around Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley in Ladakh, signalling to harden of their aggressive posturing two weeks after they were engaged in a fierce face-off.
The sources said the Chinese troops significantly increased their presence in areas around Pangong Tso and even brought in additional boats to the lake. The two sides also have brought in more troops to locations like Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie.
“The flare-ups on the border, I think are a reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical. And so whether it's on the South China Sea or whether it's along the border with India we continue to see provocations and disturbing behaviour by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power,” Alice G Wells, the outgoing head of the South and Central Asia bureau in the US State Department, told reporters in a conference call.
She was responding to a question on the recent flare-up on the India-China border.
Wells retires from the State Department later this month after having headed the important South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department for three years in the Trump administration.
She also talked about China's aggressive behaviour in the strategic South China Sea.
China claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.
China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade. |
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