China's determination of responsibility is almost certainly politically driven. Beijing is blaming the U.S. because it always does and, in this case, China's leaders feel especially vulnerable. As Bokhari says, "now they need to do what they have never done before—manage security beyond their borders."
Moreover, Bokhari thinks that with regard to India, China is "now adopting Pakistan's position because Beijing needs Islamabad to manage a post-American Afghanistan."
Just because Chinese officials do not believe what they are saying does not mean they are unserious about holding Washington and New Delhi responsible. Once taking a public position, Beijing understands it has to carry through because it has put its credibility on the line
So something is up with the use of the "enemy" label. "One reason for making such a public statement is to set up a justification for Beijing to do whatever it was already planning to do—or wants to do in the future—against India,"
Cleo Paskal of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told
Newsweek after the issuance of the
Global Times editorial. "It's a sort of preemptive victim-blaming: 'We had no choice but to invade/attack/punish you because of what (we said) you did to us.' "
There are many places China could strike. There has been, in the last week, great concern that Beijing, as another
Global Times editorial
suggested, would take advantage of the disarray in Kabul and Washington and invade Taiwan
The Chinese are already invaders. China's troops in May 2020 moved into Indian-controlled territory in Ladakh, in the Himalayas, and there have been further Chinese encroachments in India's Sikkim. Reports of additional troop buildups suggest Beijing could soon open new fronts on the long border between the two giants. Perhaps the
Global Times piece is intended to establish the justification for these anticipated troop movements.
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