Books

02.24.20

Fateful Triangle

Tanvi Madan
Brookings Institution Press: In this Asian century, scholars, officials, and journalists are increasingly focused on the fate of the rivalry between China and India. They see the U.S.’s relationships with the two Asian giants as now intertwined, after having followed separate paths during the Cold War.In Fateful Triangle, Tanvi Madan argues that China’s influence on the U.S.-India relationship is neither a recent nor a momentary phenomenon. Drawing on documents from India and the United States, she shows that American and Indian perceptions of and policy toward China significantly shaped U.S.-India relations in three crucial decades, from 1949 to 1979. Fateful Triangle updates our understanding of the diplomatic history of U.S.-India relations, highlighting China’s central role in it; reassesses the origins and practice of Indian foreign policy and nonalignment; and provides historical context for the interactions between the three countries.Madan’s assessment of this formative period in the triangular relationship is of more than historic interest. A key question today is whether the United States and India can, or should, develop ever-closer ties as a way of countering China’s desire to be the dominant power in the broader Asian region. Fateful Triangle argues that history shows such a partnership is neither inevitable nor impossible. A desire to offset China brought the two countries closer together in the past, and could do so again. A look to history, however, also shows that shared perceptions of an external threat from China are necessary, but insufficient, to bring India and the United States into a close and sustained alignment. That requires agreement on the nature and urgency of the threat, as well as how to approach the threat strategically, economically, and ideologically.With its long view, Fateful Triangle offers insights for both present and future policymakers as they tackle a fateful, and evolving, triangle that has regional and global implications.{chop}

China-India Relations One Year After the Wuhan Summit

Paul Haenle, Rudra Chaudhuri & more from Carnegie China
In May 2018, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Wuhan for an informal summit that many say helped reset the relationship following the Doklam crisis. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Rudra Chaudhuri, Director of...

India as China’s Secret Business Weapon

Sintia Radu
As India rises on the global economic stage, foreign players are increasingly attracted to the seemingly unlimited and unexplored potential of the South Asian giant, which offers a market of 1.3 billion potential consumers.

China and India Launch Investment Spree in Africa Ahead of Key Summit

Justina Crabtree
CNBC
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have continued to lend in tandem to African countries ahead of a major emerging markets summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, beginning on Wednesday.

Conversation

06.14.18

One Year After They Almost Went to War, Can China and India Get Along?

Joel Wuthnow, Selina Ho & more
One year ago, the Chinese and Indian armies faced off at Doklam, a disputed Himalayan area on the border between China, India, and the tiny kingdom of Bhutan. While the two sides didn’t go to war over the border as they did in 1962, tensions were...

Resetting China-India Relations

Paul Haenle & C. Raja Mohan from Carnegie China
Following a year marked by mounting tensions between China and India, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Wuhan for an informal summit in April to reset the relationship. Major points of tension dominating China-India...

India Is Willing to Snub the Dalai Lama to Please China

Devjyot Ghoshal
Quartz
On March 17, 1959, a 23-year-old Buddhist monk disguised as a soldier fled Tibet, travelling for three weeks across the Himalayas before reaching the border with India.

Maldives Crisis Could Stir Trouble between China and India

Mujib Mashal
New York Times
As the Maldives’ autocratic president, Abdulla Yameen, cracks down on opposition to consolidate power ahead of another election, analysts and diplomats warn that the small nation’s troubles could provoke a larger crisis that draws in China and India...

An Indian-Russian Supersonic Missile Could Be a Problem for China

Nyshka Chandran
CNBC
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, has developed what it calls the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. The namesake rocket may now be exported globally — a potentially concerning development for the world’s second-...

India Tests Ballistic Missile, Posing New Threat to China

New York Times
India tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons on Thursday, paving the way for membership to a small list of countries with access to intercontinental missiles and putting most of China in its reach.

India, China Hold Talks on Long-Running Border Dispute

Associated Press
ABC
India and China on Friday discussed ways to prevent a repeat of a recent face-off between their armed forces at a Himalayan plateau where their borders meet.

The China-India Row That Spells Disaster for Flood Victims

Navin Singh Khadka
BBC
Fear of flooding has been growing in the Indian state of Assam ever since upstream China stopped sharing river data crucial for issuing early warnings.

Depth of Field

11.20.17

Fake Girlfriends, Chengdu Rappers, and a Chow Chow Making Bank

Ye Ming, Yan Cong & more from Yuanjin Photo
Lonely dog owners in Beijing and a rented girlfriend in Fujian; the last Oroqen hunters in Heilongjiang and homegrown hip hop in Chengdu; young Chinese in an Indian tech hub and Hong Kong apartments only slightly larger than coffins—these are some...

The Rise and Rise of China's Xiaomi in India

Abhishek Baxi
Forbes
A couple of years ago in 2015, MIT Technology Review ranked Xiaomi number 2 on their list of 50 Smartest Companies -- a list that also had companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft who were rated far below the Chinese smartphone and smart home...

Who Blinked in the China-India Military Standoff?

Simon Denyer and Annie Gowen
Washington Post
For weeks, China’s Foreign Ministry had been vehement in its denunciations of India and insistence that New Delhi unconditionally withdraw troops that had trespassed into Chinese territory. Don’t underestimate us, China repeatedly insisted, we are...

India, China Agree to Pull Back Troops to Resolve Tense Border Dispute

Simon Denyer and Annie Gowen
Washington Post
India and China have withdrawn troops from a disputed Himalayan region on their border, foreign ministries from the two countries announced Monday, defusing a tense standoff that had threatened to provoke armed conflict between the nuclear-armed...

India, China Agree to Pull Back Troops to Resolve Tense Border Dispute

Washington Post
India and China have withdrawn troops from a disputed Himalayan region on the border with China, foreign ministries from the two countries announced Monday, defusing a tense standoff that had threatened to provoke armed conflict between the nuclear-...

Balance of Power: China Extends Its Reach

Bloomberg
President Xi Jinping is spending more than $50 billion in an economic corridor in Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor. The highways and gas pipelines, designed to provide China an alternative land route to the high seas, also give it an interest in...

We Are Human Too, India and China Have to Start Talking and Stop Using Us Soldiers as Cannon Fodder

Ajai Shukla
South China Morning Post
In Autumn 1986, as a young army captain deployed in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its own territory, I readied to go to war with China. The provocation: a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) company, about a...

China’s Global Ambitions: Are There Lessons to Be Learnt from Tibet?

Sydney Morning Herald
The Harvard-educated lawyer’s message to Australia: “It happened to Tibet - you could be next.”

China-India Border Dispute Spills over into Australian University

South China Morning Post
An IT lecturer at the University of Sydney has apologised for using an out-of-date map that showed a region of Tibet as being Indian territory. The image upset some Chinese students after it was used by Khimji Vaghjiani during a course titled “...

India and China Troops Clash along Himalayan Border

BBC
The PTI news agency said soldiers threw stones, causing minor injuries to both sides, as Chinese troops tried to enter Indian territory near the Pangong lake. 

Diplomacy to Defuse India, China Border Crisis Slams into a Wall: Sources

Sanjeev Miglani
Reuters
India’s diplomatic efforts to end a seven-week military standoff with China have hit a roadblock, people briefed on the talks said, prompting Chinese state-run media to trumpet rhetoric of “unavoidable countermeasures” on the unmarked border.

China May Conduct ‘Small-Scale Military Operation’ to Remove Indian Troops from Bhutan Border Region

Samuel Osborne
Independent
China could conduct a “small-scale military operation” to expel Indian troops from a contested region in the Himalayas, according to an article published a Chinese state-controlled newspaper.

China ramps up rhetoric in border row with India ahead of key meetings

Catherine Wong
Beijing has doubled down on its tough rhetoric in its Himalayan border row, with official and military mouthpieces insisting China will not back down on territorial sovereignty. 

China Warns India Not to Harbor Illusions in Border Stand-Off

Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina
Reuters
China’s defense ministry on Monday warned India not to harbor any illusions about the Chinese military’s ability to defend its territory, amid a festering border dispute.

China Is Being ‘Unusually Aggressive’ in Border Row

South China Morning Post
A top Indian diplomat said China is being unusually aggressive in a month-old border dispute with India that shows no sign of easing, media reports said yesterday.

Modi’s India Beats Xi’s China

Panos Mourdoukoutas
Forbes
India has been on the radar of different international agencies in recent days and has been getting high marks for its reforms and growth prospects—beating China.

Chinese Media Says India Needs to Be Taught a 'Bitter Lesson' over Its Border Dispute

Joseph Hincks
Time
An editorial that ran in China's Global Times Tuesday has ramped up the rhetoric in an ongoing military dispute along a portion of the Sino-Indian border.

Pakistan Pivots to China Amid Fresh Concerns over US Ties with India

Pamela Constable
Washington Post
The words from Pakistan’s top foreign policy adviser could not have been clearer. At a news conference welcoming China’s foreign minister to the Pakistani capital this week, Sartaj Aziz declared, “Pakistan’s relations with China are the cornerstone...

China Is Trying to Pull Middle East Countries into Its Version of NATO

Washington Post
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held annual summit last week in Kazakhstan, and the most significant outcome was the announcement that India and Pakistan became its first new members since being formed in 2001.

China Likely to Set up Military Base in Pakistan – Pentagon

Telegraph
The report from the Pentagon predicts China will expand its military prowess after the construction of its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, a strategic location at the southern entrance to the Red Sea on the route to the Suez Canal.

China’s Downgrade Could Lead to a Mountain of Debt

Bloomberg
The downgrade of China’s debt by Moody’s Investors Service may push Chinese companies to borrow even more money from domestic banks as overseas debt becomes more expensive, increasing risks for the nation’s finance industry.

Environment

05.23.17

India and China Will Offset Trump’s Climate Backslide

from chinadialogue
With the U.S. likely to fall short of its Paris Agreement pledge to reduce carbon emissions, a new analysis released last week claims that overachievement by India and China will ensure progress on climate action is not stymied.The U.S., the world’s...

No Room yet for India in NSG, Says China

atul
Hindu
Pakistan, China’s close ally, is the other declared nuclear weapon state, which has not signed the NPT. China on Monday said it would oppose India’s unilateral entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), pending a consensus on the membership of...

China and India Make Big Strides on Climate Change

New York Times
China’s emissions of carbon dioxide appear to have peaked more than 10 years sooner than its government had said they would. And India is now expected to obtain 40 percent of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2022, eight years ahead of...

Sri Lanka Rejects Chinese Request for Submarine Visit: Sources

Shihar Aneez, Ranga Sirilal
Reuters
Sri Lanka has rejected China’s request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, two senior government officials said on Thursday as the Indian prime minister who worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as...

Caixin Media

05.05.17

Belt and Road: A Symphony in Need of a Strong Conductor

In just a few weeks, the Chinese president will host the Belt and Road summit—Xi Jinping’s landmark program to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Reactions to the project have been, understandably...

Why China’s New Aircraft Carrier Is Significant

CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
ABC
China on Wednesday launched the navy’s second aircraft carrier, its first to be entirely homebuilt.

Dalai Lama’s Journey Provokes China, and Hints at His Heir

New York Times
It has been a hard journey for the 81-year-old Dalai Lama, perhaps his last over the mountain passes at the edge of China, to a town that has played a fateful role in his life, and in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.

Books

03.13.17

The End of the Asian Century

Michael Auslin
Since Marco Polo, the West has waited for the “Asian Century.” Today, the world believes that Century has arrived. Yet from China’s slumping economy to war clouds over the South China Sea and from environmental devastation to demographic crisis, Asia’s future is increasingly uncertain. Historian and geopolitical expert Michael Auslin argues that far from being a cohesive powerhouse, Asia is a fractured region threatened by stagnation and instability. Here, he provides a comprehensive account of the economic, military, political, and demographic risks that bedevil half of our world, arguing that Asia, working with the United States, has a unique opportunity to avert catastrophe—but only if it acts boldly. Bringing together firsthand observations and decades of research, Auslin’s provocative reassessment of Asia’s future will be a must-read for industry and investors, as well as politicians and scholars, for years to come. —Yale University Press{chop}

India’s Air Pollution Rivals China’s as World’s Deadliest

Geeta Anand
New York Times
India’s rapidly worsening air pollution is causing about 1.1 million people to die prematurely each year and is now surpassing China’s as the deadliest in the world, a new study of global air pollution shows. 

Apple Renaissance in China Key for iPhone 8 Success but It Faces a Tough Road Ahead

Arjun Kharpal
CNBC
Apple’s fiscal first quarter results showed a bit of stabilization in China and “record revenues” in India, according to CEO Tim Cook, but the U.S. technology giant still faces challenges in these emerging but increasingly “critical” markets.

Google Play and iOS Apps Demand Surges in India and China

Leo Kelion
BBC
The two leading app stores both experienced a tilt towards Asia in 2016, according to an annual study.

When China Bullies Its Neighbors, India Gets More Muscular

Ilaria Maria Sala
Quartz
China’s increasingly rough-handed and assertive foreign policy towards its neighbors is raising India’s diplomatic and economic clout in the region

Features

12.02.16

How Do You Stand up to China? Ask Mongolia

Sergey Radchenko
The day before the Dalai Lama’s November 18 trip to Mongolia, Beijing issued a “strong demand” to its neighbor to cancel the visit of the “anti-Chinese separatist” or face (unstated) consequences. The Dalai Lama would be making his ninth visit to...

India’s China Policy Off Target, Says Modi’s Mandarin- Speaking ‘Guided Missile’

Debasish Chowdhury
South China Morning Post
Delhi’s go-to guy for talking to Beijing is one of the few Indian leaders who openly advocate closer ties

Conversation

11.15.16

Should China’s Neighbors Rely on the U.S. for Protection?

Richard J. Heydarian, Sheila Smith & more
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of neo-isolationism that could see many traditional U.S. allies in Asia left without Washington’s support in the newly roiled waters of the South- and East China Seas. What will the governments...

Guess What India and China Need to Improve Relations? More Spies

Nicolas Groffman
South China Morning Post
Strange as it may sound, China and India need a basis in espionage to improve their relationship.

Unlike the West, China and India Embrace Globalization

Bruce Stokes
Quartz
In contrast with the developed West, globalization and economic integration remain popular in the world’s two largest developing countries—India and China.

Pakistan Tensions Loom Over India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue

Nyshka Chandran
CNBC
Pakistan may not be officially included in this year's round of talks between India and China, but it's certainly high up on the agenda.

As BRICS Slow Investments in Africa, Turkey Ramps Up

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
Remember when the BRICS were going to power the global economy? Well, the past few years have not been kind to Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. With the exception of India, the other members of this once elite diplomatic club are...

Russia Deals Deepen India Hold in China Oil-Buying Backyard

Debjit Chakraborty and Saket Sundria
Bloomberg
India is replacing China as the center of the world’s oil demand growth as its economy expands faster than any other major country.

Abe and Modi Strengthen Ties to Counter China's Rise

Natalie Obiko Pearson
Bloomberg
India and Japan took their biggest steps yet to deepen strategic ties, and it’s mostly thanks to China.

Conversation

11.18.15

How Can China’s Neighbors Make Progress at APEC?

Le Hong Hiep & Brian Eyler
Ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit next week, we asked a group of experts from China’s neighboring countries what they thought the main thrust of discussion in Manila should be. If host, the Philippines, under pressure from...

In the Race for Africa, India and China Aren’t All That Different

Lily Kuo
Quartz
During the third India-Africa Summit, Indian officials are working hard to differentiate their country from China.

India Is Spending Billions to Populate a Remote Area Claimed by China

Natalie Obiko Pearson
Bloomberg
"If China is developing on their side of the territory, we should develop on our side."

China Parliament Ratifies BRICS Bank Agreement

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
The BRICS Bank, is one of two international development banks that China is promoting as an alternative to western institutions such as the World Bank.

Sinica Podcast

05.11.15

India Comes to China

Kaiser Kuo & Jeremy Goldkorn from Sinica Podcast
This week’s Sincia Podcast is about the upcoming visit to China of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who served from 2001 to 2014 as Chief Minister of Gujarat and was sworn into office almost one year ago this month. Modi’s visit comes at an...

Why India’s E-Commerce Boom Will Look Nothing Like China’s

Shelly Walia
Quartz
In five years, the number of Indians with internet access is estimated to reach the level of China back in 2012.