Harmonious Relations

China has its standards. For China, it is strictly hands-off as far as interfering in another country's politics. It will stand in judgement on no other country, and makes the assumption that this courtesy will and should be reciprocated. In a way, an odd position for a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to take.

Entirely, of course, self-serving, but then China is deeply immersed in itself and whatever serves its internal vision of itself and its future is to be sacrosanct to its interests.

Strangely enough, for a country that thrives on its vision of internal 'harmony' and the need to establish, retain and impose it by any means possible, including repression, authoritarian and even human rights abuses, China seems to go out of its way all too often in challenging the rights of other countries.

China's huge, unappeasable appetite to expand its territory is an imperative that most of its neighbours cringe at. Though they respond as self-respecting nations prepared to defend their own rights against the bullying demands of their powerful neighbour.

Oddly enough, China's client state North Korea is able to swagger and threaten and pose a danger to both the region and the world at large, and China, standing on the sidelines, tut-tuts, leaving the impression it is unable to rein in the more visible bullying of North Korea. An aptly avid pupil, tutored by an expert.

Pursuing its own agenda, challenging Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and other ASEAN countries for disputed territory. Minute islands that have always been in the territorial possession of its neighbours in the South China Sea have erupted as China's entitled possessions, largely because of what lies under them, valuable natural resources to feed China's insatiable needs as a manufacturing and consuming giant.

There are those in the international community that feel it is just a matter of time before China begins to sneak its presence onto Russian territory largely uninhabited which China covets, in search of greater territory for its ever-burgeoning population. But for the time being it seems that China is content to set its sights on land that is owned and possessed by India.

"If they have come 19 kilometres into India, it is not a minor LAC violation. It is a deliberate military operation. And even as India protests, more tents have come up. Clearly, the Chinese are testing India to see how far they can go", explained Sujit Dutta, China specialist at the Jamia Milia Islamia university, New Delhi.

Not so, objects the Chinese Foreign Ministry: "China is firmly opposed to any acts that involve crossing the Line of Actual Control and sabotaging the status quo", a spokeswoman responded huffily. "As we pointed out many times, the China-India border issue is one which was left over from the past. The two sides reached important consensus that this issue should not affect the overall bilateral relations."

There -- China's traditional bid for 'harmony'.

China is so reasonable. China's neighbours are so given to frantic paranoia. When all China, as a good neighbour really wants, is good relations to prevail. What's all the fuss about?

Well, India feels a little fussed about a sneak move by China, where a platoon of Chinese soldiers breached the boundary into India in the dark hours of the night, ferried across in Chinese army vehicles. When their destination, 19 kilometres into Indian territory was reached, a tent was pitched in the barren landscape.

Somewhat like Russia planting a Russian flag on the Arctic seabed. Only Russia left once it achieved its saucy objective, and the Chinese soldiers have remained within India.

Which alarms India no end. India was taken unawares, discovering the incursion only a day after it had occurred. And when it brought the situation to the attention of the Chinese ambassador to India, China politely declined to admit that any of its troops were anywhere but in China. No incursion.

Two weeks later, the soldiers are still there, refusing to move back over the Line of Actual Control dividing the two territories.

South Korea and Japan were adamant that they would not accept China's bullying tactics, that they were prepared to mount a defence, and that China would pay dearly if it furthered its ambitions at their expense. Not that their crises have evaporated, mind. India, on the other hand appears to fear that if it responds with force, China will react with equal force. Their dilemma is how to respond.

The Indian opposition knows how the government should respond. "China realizes that India has a weak government, and a prime minister who is powerless", claimed Yashwant Sinha from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, a former foreign minister. "A bully will back off the moment it realizes that it's dealing with a country which will not submit to its will."

Quite. Quite so. But not guaranteed.

On the other hand, India has a big stick of its own. The kind of stick that stings. The kind of sting that China pays attention to. As India's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade skewed heavily in China's favour representing $75-billion in 2011, China's new premier Li Keqiang might be persuaded that harmony lies in withdrawal.

And when he meets with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he may just advise that there was a discrepancy in orders which have since been rectified. And harmony shall prevail.