The Embassy of China at New Delhi recently organised a visit of an Indian media delegation to China for interactions at Beijing with the 4th Army Aviation Regiment, China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), Tencent (qq.com), Ministry of National Defense (MND), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), China Daily and Shanghai Naval Garrison. Reporting from Beijing and Shanghai is Lt General P.C. Katoch (Retd) who was part of this delegation representing SP Guide Publications.

The Embassy of China at New Delhi, recently organised visit of an Indian press delegation to China for interactions at Beijing with the 4th Army Aviation Regiment, China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), Tencent (qq.com), Ministry of National Defense (MND), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), China Daily, and Shanghai Naval Garrison.

The familiarisation visit gave an overview of what is happening in China. The stops included the 4th Army Aviation Regiment. The delegation was met and briefed by Senior Colonel Zhang Jillin, Commander of the Regiment. Their equipment includes attack helicopters, medium-lift helicopters (Mi-17 equivalent) and fixed-wing aircraft (C-130 equivalent). The tasks include attack, air support and tasks like rescue missions and locating space capsules returning to earth. Tasks are all land based, as naval aviation units cover operations at sea. The regiment is maintained at high state of readiness. Pilots undergo a four-year course from basic level to combat level.

China Institute of Strategic Studies

CIIS is the primary think tank of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and it also trains Chinese diplomats. The briefing was done by Jia Xiudong, Senior Research Fellow, mainly hinging on the overwhelming desire for peace by China, maintaining friendly relations with all neighbours and bright prospects of India-China relations. Lan Jianxue, Associate Research Fellow who has visited India many times, spoke at length about India-China relations highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s achievements.

The discussions centred around:

• China’s concern about the situation in Iraq-Syria and about possible fallout in Af-Pak region.
• China wants peace in Afghanistan and looks to Afghanistan’s economic upliftment
• In its relationship with India, Panchsheel is being forged as the mainstay.
• China has resolved its borders with all neighbours less India and Bhutan but China will never use force to do so unless attacked.
• The situation in Asia-Pacific is fluid but China does not have any desire for use of force.
• China and US have over 90 bilateral dialogues covering every conceivable issue and the economic interdependence is intense. Logically, this should deter conflict.
• To explore scope of India-China cooperation for evacuation of respective nationals from trouble spots like Iraq, government-to-government dialogue is required.
• Pakistan herself is a victim of terror though China has always advised Pakistan to be careful about radicalisation and terrorism.

Tencent (qq.com)

Established in 1998, Tencent is a top level internet company of China. It offers the equivalent of Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Microchat, Wizard, Google, Gaming, etc and claims on improvement over Twitter. They also have V-chat which is the equivalent of Whatsapp, being used in 200 countries. Tencent has been listed at number 4 out of the 100 top level Internet companies by Forbes. The company has 24,000 employees and also has offices in Delhi and Mumbai. 50 per cent of money is earned through the gaming application. Edgarchen, Manager Government Affairs. Tencent claimed that Tencent has nothing to do with the Chinese Government and owes no obligations to the latter.

Foreign Affairs Office of MND

The Senior Colonel Yang Yujun, Spokesperson and Deputy Director-General, Information Office of MND, briefed about the organisational structure of Chinese Army and China’s National Defense Policy. It was emphasised that China will never attack but will definitely counter-attack, when attacked. The Defense Policy includes “Crackdown on separatist forces for East Turkistan and Tibet Independence.

The discussions revolved around:

• April 2013 Intrusion in Depsang: Explanation given was that since the nearest Chinese location was very cold, the local commander decided to pitch some tents in the sunny area of Depsang but when India asked them to vacate the location, a hawkish stance was adopted by China. China had no intention of making any intrusion.
• Threat: On being questioned what possible threat China faces and who can attack China, response was that this must be related to capability and not intent, as the latter could change overnight. The US has very potent capabilities and countries like Japan and South Korea have considerable military prowess as well.
• Code of Conduct along Border: It was pointed out that immediately after signing of the BDCA, now China was proposing yet another agreement about ‘Code of Conduct’ along the border. Response was that this is to eliminate chances of any possible clash.
• Boundary Settlement: Indian side pointed out that Chinese claims in the Western and Eastern Sectors have been expanded over the years along the LAC. It was conveyed to the Chinese side that the benefit of resolving the border would be opening up of Indian ports to China.
• Pakistan: The stance of Pakistan continuing to be a victim of terrorism was repeated by the Chinese side. Mention was also made of Pakistan’s offensive in North Waziristan. We pointed out that eyewitness accounts on the Internet indicate nothing much would be achieved, radical leaders having left the area. It was also conveyed that as per the Syrian Ambassador at Delhi, some 5,000 Pakistan Taliban are assisting rebels in Syria and some would have joined the ISIS. On the question of ETIM radicals in Pakistan, Chinese response was that China has good cooperation with Pakistan in counter-terrorism.
• Weapon Exports: On the question that while China is exporting arms to all of India’s neighbours, why does China not respond to global tenders floated by India for importing arms since this would be the best form of CBM, the Chinese side was caught by surprise. Response was that this needed discussion at government-to-government basis.
• Indo-US Relationship: Indian side conveyed that Chinese concerns about possible Indo-US alliance against China are baseless as India is a non-aligned country. At the same time, 97 per cent of India’s trade is by sea and hence the safety of SLOCS is as important to India as China. India is aware of Chinese submarine activity in the Indian Ocean region and Indian believes that the India Ocean belongs to all.
• Terrorism: The scourge of terrorism affects all and China looks towards cooperation with all countries to combat this menace.

Shanghai Naval Garrison

The brief was given by Senior Captain Wu Xiao Deng. Shanghai is strategically important to China although no Fleet HQ is based in Shanghai. The discussions were on:

• India-China cooperation on the high seas is important for protection of SLOCs and against sea piracy and terrorism.
• Shanghai Naval Garrison responsibility is from the coastline and beyond. Responsibility on rivers inland is of the army.
• Responsibility to counter smuggling of narcotics and arms from sea is that of the police and the Naval Garrison cannot comment on such events over last five years.
• Minesweeping is undertaken when the situation so demands.
• Interaction between the Indian Navy and PLAN needs to be increased and possibility of navy-to-navy joint exercises explored.
• The delegation was taken aboard a 2013 commissioned state-of-the-art Corvette that has been constructed in just one year.

The visit essentially was a public relations exercise by China. According to Rong Changhai, Deputy Director, International Liaison Department of ACJA who accompanied the Indian press delegation, China plans to send a similar delegation to India next year (for which they are looking for an invitation from India) and hope to make this a regular affair to improve understanding of each other.