After Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a face-off along the Line of Actual Control in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, Tibetan President in exile Penpa Tsering spoke exclusively to Republic Media Network over the stand-off that took place just a month after his visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Notably, Tawang shares its borders with Tibet.
When asked if the Chinese are afraid as Arunachal Pradesh is turning into a center of resurgence for Tibetan refugees, the Tibetan President in exile said, “Whether it is fear or insecurity, these are two sides of the same coin. We Tibetans follow Buddhism, but unfortunately, Chinese do not understand this language. China does not want any other competition in the asian region other than themselves. That is why, China never treated India as its equal.”
He added, “I’m sure Chinese government need to have a re-look over their policies towards India. Actions taken by the Chinese is neither helping India nor China. ” He also said that China is insecure and is getting rattled because of anti COVID-19 protests.
In the month of October, protests against China’s stringent COVID restrictions have broken out in the Tibetan city of Lhasa. The city has been under strict COVID-19 lockdown for almost three months. The strict lockdown on Tibet began as a result of China’s Zero-COVID policy. The lockdown began during the first week of August all of a sudden, and as a result, people in the region did not have enough time to prepare for the lockdown.
India stunned China during the Tawang face-off
According to sources, the clash broke out between 2.45 to 3.15 am on December 9 and the Indian side managed to deploy reinforcement swiftly by 3.30 am. The Chinese troops tried to take advantage of the dense forest, heavy snowfall, and darkness of night during the change of Indian units deployed within the area. The Chinese were carrying taser guns along with wooden clubs, spikes, and monkey fists, sources revealed.
Meanwhile, the Indian troops didn’t have any taser guns but were carrying other types of equipment that were more than the reinforcements of the PLA, and hence, they managed to push them back out of the Indian territory. Notably, a similar attempt was made by China in the same area in 2016 when more than 200+ PLA soldiers tried to advance but were pushed back by the Indian Army.