Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 1: As China implements its new border rule on Saturday; India is likely to confront further hurdles along its northern border. China is expected to dig in its heels at the current contested areas along the Line of Actual Control, according to sources, and will build more model border communities for military and civilian uses. China renamed 15 localities in Arunachal Pradesh on its map on December 30, 2021, in a provocative move.
“The new land boundary law is China’s latest attempt to unilaterally delineate and demarcate territorial boundaries with India and Bhutan,” Major General Ashok Kumar (Retd) told IANS.
He explained how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has created conditions for a “militarised solution” to the boundary issue by enacting such a law, which he said is in conjunction with the accelerated construction of 624 “Xiaokong,” or model villages, along and inside the disputed land borders with India.
“It is a hybrid unconventional warfare methodology, applied for taking over illegal control of sovereign spaces of other states and gets converted into a legalistic nation-building exercise which brooks no opposition,”Major Gen Ashok said.
China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress, enacted a new law on October 23 stating “protection and exploitation of the country’s land border territories.” The new law, according to the committee, will take effect on January 1st.
The law does not apply only to the border with India. China has a 22,457-kilometer land border with 14 nations, including India, which is the third longest after Mongolia and Russia. There are 62 articles and seven chapters in the new border law. The People’s Republic of China is required by law to install boundary markers on all of its land borders in order to clearly designate the border. The sort of marking will be selected in collaboration with the neighbouring state in question.
The law also specified that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force shall be in charge of border security. Cooperating with local authorities in the fight against illicit border crossings is part of this responsibility.
Any activity in the border area that would “endanger national security or impair China’s amicable relations with neighbouring nations” is prohibited under the law. It includes the construction of any permanent structures by anyone without the permission of the relevant government.
Citizens and local organisations are also required to safeguard and defend border infrastructure, maintain border security and stability, and work with government authorities to maintain border security, according to the document.
The law paves the way for the border region’s development. The People’s Republic of China will use education and propaganda to “solidify China’s sense of community, promote China’s spirit, defend the country’s unity and territorial integrity, strengthen citizens’ sense of country and homeland security, and build a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation” among citizens in the border region, according to the document.
The government can take steps “to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas, improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people’s lives and work there, and promote coordination between border defence and social and economic development in border areas,” according to the report.
As a result, this shows an effort to establish residents along the border. The law was enacted in the midst of a boundary dispute with India. China is alleged to have illegally occupied 38,000 square kilometres of Indian territory in Aksai Chin, which borders eastern Ladakh. In 1963, Pakistan gave China 5,180 square kilometres of Indian territory that it had illegally annexed. For the past 20 months, India and China have been at odds over their border, and diplomatic and military talks are underway to settle the issues.
