Indian envoy sought US help against China

[SHASH2K2]

NEW DELHI: Wikileaks has confirmed what everyone knew: that China's aggressiveness is losing it friends and influence faster than it can count.

US ambassador to Beijing Jon Huntsman reported back to Washington in cables made public by Wikileaks that countries like Japan and India had expressed concern about China's behaviour.

In his February 2010 report, which he titled `Stomp around and carry a small stick: China's new global assertiveness raises hackles, but has more form than substance', Huntsman said, "Numerous third-country diplomats have complained to us that dealing with China has become more difficult in the past year."

In his cables, the US ambassador quoted several of his counterparts, particularly from Japan and India. S Jaishankar, the Indian ambassador to Beijing, was quoted requesting closer cooperation with the US because of "China's more aggressive approach".

It was in November 2009 that US President Barack Obama signed a joint statement with China that sent every Indian diplomat protesting against what Delhi saw as a ganging up against it. Singh protested in person to Obama a few weeks later in Washington. The joint statement said, the two countries would "work together to promote peace, stability and development in that ( South Asia) region".

While India and China managed to strike a Copenhagen spirit in December 2009, by early 2010, it had become clear to India that China would be taking a more tough position vis-a-vis New Delhi. It soon became clear that an intensified China-Pakistan relationship was intended to heat up things in India's neighbourhood, as was China's activities in Nepal.

Things came to a head with China inserting itself into the Kashmir issue, issuing stapled visas for Kashmiris. After a refusal of visa to the northern area commander, India has cut off defence ties with China, which are yet to be restored.

But the difficulties have been with the attitude of the Chinese. If in the past Indian diplomats tried to brush it under the carpet, in recent months, Indians have taken to a lot of plain-speaking with their Chinese counterparts, as well as with other countries.

According to the Guardian, which reported the cables, European diplomats, as well as the Japanese, have repeatedly complained as well as African officials, which is significant because of China's immense presence in Africa. The US ambassador in his cable accused Beijing of "muscle-flexing, triumphalism and assertiveness".


Read more: Indian envoy sought US help against China - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-China-/articleshow/7049242.cms#ixzz17JGAJqK1

 

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Be prepared to use force in China: Rudd told the US​

MELBOURNE: Australia's former premier Kevin Rudd had told the US that it should be ready to "deploy force" if attempts to integrate China do not yield results, secret cables released by WikiLeaks have disclosed, prompting an embarrassed Australia to insist that it continues to have strong ties with Beijing.

According to a secret cable written by a US diplomat, Rudd told US secretary of state Hillary Clinton last year that Australia and the US should work to integrate China into the international community but be prepared to "deploy force if everything goes wrong".

Rudd also said his vision for an Asia-Pacific Community was primarily an attempt to contain Chinese influence.

As the revelations surfaced, Australian government today stressed at its relationship with China will remain strong despite them.

According to 'The Australian', Attorney-General Robert McClelland today dubbed the new disclosures by WikiLeaks as "grossly irresponsible".

The opposition Coalition said it was troubled by the revelations, and called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to clarify whether she supported Rudd's comments.

While declining to comment on the specifics of the cable, the first released by WikiLeaks in which Australia features prominently, McClelland insisted Australia's strong relationship with China would continue.

"We have a very strong relationship with the Chinese government and the people of China, a strong business relationship, strong diplomatic relationships, strong government-to-government relationships, and that arrangement will continue," he said.

"The Foreign Minister has not given dignity to the publication of this information by commenting on it," McClelland said.

"All I can do is reiterate is that we have (a strong relationship with China) at a number of levels, including law enforcement operation, including again when they have had emergencies to provide assistance," he said.

McClelland said the Australian Federal Police was investigating the release of the cable.

"It is grossly irresponsible of an organisation to even contemplate publishing such information. Free speech is one thing, we all respect that, but we also respect the freedom and rights of people to live without fear," he said.

He said it was "fair enough" that media outlets had published embarrassing material, but added "I would again just caution people to come back and really see what's going on here".


Read more: Be prepared to use force in China: Rudd told the US - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-the-US/articleshow/7051732.cms#ixzz17JGJSoGR

 

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India complained about 'bully' China​

China is 'losing friends worldwide' wrote the US envoy in Beijing last February, quoting India, Japan and Britain as among the countries who have seeking closer cooperation with Washington because of Chinese muscle flexing. "The Indian ambassador to Beijing requested closer co-operation with the US because of "China's more aggressive approach," said the Guardian in its latest WikiLeaks coverage. "European diplomats were 'most vocal', although Indian and Japanese counterparts voiced similar complaints, Jon Huntsman wrote."

Huntsman notes the 'newly pugnacious' Chinese foreign policy of 'muscle-flexing, triumphalism and assertiveness'. The cable was sent at a time when US was coming to recognise its earlier attempt to partner with China on global issues was coming a cropper. US Presi-dent Barack Obama had been humiliated during a state visit to Beijing and China had just pulled the rug from under the Copenhagen climate summit.

India had already spent an entire year squabbling with China over Arunachal Pradesh and, increasingly, Kashmir. New Delhi was seeking to encourage Washington to be more sceptical about China, especially after the reference to a Chinese role in South Asia in a US-China joint statement.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had by then already publicly noted increasing Chinese "assertiveness."

Beijing increasingly reads India's closeness with the US as aimed at countering China. It is a concern New Delhi, in turn, has sought to use to moderate Beijing's South Asia policy. A section of Chinese strategists now advocate strengthening strategic ties with India, partially to compensate for Sino-US tension and regional instability with Beijing's neighbours.

Since the cable, Sino-US relations have gone through strategic upheaval this year as Beijing objects to Washington's 'interference' in its territorial and maritime disputes in South Asia.

"It's no use for China to complain about India's relations with the US," said Shi Yinhong, director of the Centre on American Studies at Renmin University. "Anyway, India's foreign policy is independent. China's task is to exploit potential room for better relations with India to reduce Indian strategic consultations with the US."

The Chinese foreign ministry has called the content of WikiLeaks cables 'absurd' and refused to comment on specifics. But Beijing will be poring over the fine print. Chinese muscle flexing is at the centre of a diplomatic debate on understanding China's growing clout on the world stage but it's rare to read a top official describe it in writing.

The cable is titled 'stomp around and carry a small stick: China's new global assertiveness raises hackles, but has more form than substance'.

Huntsman is quoted saying that numerous third-country diplomats have complained it is more difficult to deal with China since the past year. Britain and France, he said, complained that Chinese officials were 'shocking' at the Copenhagen climate summit last December.

 

[Iamanidiot]

stomp around and carry a small stick: China's new global assertiveness raises hackles, but has more form than substance'.:emot15: