Red Fear: The China ThreatWhat was the reason for the first real armed encounter between Indian and Chinese troops on Chinese soil in the town of Dinghai on Chusan Island in July 1840? Were the orders for the invasion of Aksai Chin issued by Mao from Moscow in December 1949, at Stalin's behest? Was the pluck and raw courage of Lt. Gen. Sagat Singh to hold Nathu La first in 1965 and then again in 1967 the basis for General K. Sundarji's bold moves at Sumdorong Chu in 1986 and 1987? Red Fear: The China Threat catalogues, evaluates and infers the consequences of the political and military confrontations between India and China from the 15th to the 21st century. Contrary to the glowing accounts in popular imagination of a congruence of values and interests between these two nations, the relationship has been confrontational and antagonistic at many levels throughout these last six centuries. The lessons of history are hard to learn. Nevertheless, China seems to have learnt them better than India. It bided its time well and positioned itself to humiliate and denigrate India whenever possible as retribution for the perceived harm India and Indians did to its society and economy during the infamous Chinese century of humiliation between 1839 to 1940. For India, today's post-Galwan situation is reminiscent of the challenge India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru faced in 1962 and the identical challenge India's 14th Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in 2020. Vedic philosophy argues that time is cyclical, and not linear, and by this argument, the year 2020 completes a 60-year cycle that began in 1960. How Modi responds to this challenge will define India's relationship with China as well as its position in the world through the rest of the 21st century. |
Contents
Incursions in the Middle Ages | |
The First Opium War Tea and Tibet | |
The Second Opium War and its Aftermath | |
Qing China Encounters the Government of India | |
The British and Tibetans Dominate the Chinese | |
The Soviets Enter the Game | |
Nehru Kowtows to | |
The CIA Joins the Game | |
Nehru and His Merry Men Fail India | |
The CIA Helps India Recover its Spirit | |
China Encounters a Resurgent India | |
A New Paradigm of Warfare | |
Postscript | |
Mao Makes His Moves | |
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13th Dalai Lama accessed on 17 agreement aircraft Aksai Chin armed Assam attack August Available Bengal bomb border Britain British Calicut China Chinese troops CIA’s command Communist Company Defence Delhi Doklam East forces foreign frontier Gilgit Agency global Government of India Hong Kong Hunza Indian Army Indian Ocean Indian soldiers Indian troops intelligence invasion Jammu and Kashmir Jeejeebhoy June Karakash River Kashgar Khan Khrushchev kilometres Korean Ladakh Lama’s Lhasa Maharaja Major Khathing Mao’s military Ming Mongols Mullick Nanking Nathu Nathu La NEFA negotiations Nehru November nuclear October officer operations opium Pakistan Party Peking People’s political Prime Minister Qing court Qing Empire Regiment region River road Sassoon Shanghai Sheng Sikh Sikkim Sinkiang Sino–Indian Sino–Soviet Soviet Stalin strategic Tarim Basin Tawang territory Tibet Tibetan Tihwa trade Treaty uranium weapons Western Xi Jinping Yongle Emperor Zheng