Posted on 12/03/2012 5:53:15 PM PST by bruinbirdman
China and India will hold talks on their disputed border December 3-4, when Indian National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon will meet outgoing Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo in Beijing. Menon explained that the two sides are in the “second stage” of the dispute settlement process, and are now “agreeing on a framework to settle the boundary.” The two countries have held 15 rounds of Special Representatives (SR) talks since 2003, although the December meeting in Beijing is not being billed as a formal round of SR talks. Those will have to wait until China replaces Dai Bingguo with a new State Councillor in the aftermath of the 18th Party Congress. Ahead of the talks, Menon tried to downplay a row over Beijing issuing a new map of China in its passports that includes Indian territory claimed by China. Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had days earlier taken a tougher line, deeming the new Chinese maps “unacceptable.” (Deccan Herald ,November 26, 2012)
We’re not China’s primary competitor. It’s India. India is a planned miracle in many ways. There’s an interesting graphic on the WSJ site that shows the Indian population passing and greatly exceeding the Chinese population in the near future.
China’s misbegotten central planning and wasteful empty city developments will cost it dearly as its growth rate declines. The current economic down turn in China is going to have unforeseen effects.
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