Friday, June 3, 2011

China preparing Tibet as future war zone?

Rapid Infrastructure Investment Not What it Is Cracked Up to Be?


China is always putting out what can only be classified as propaganda concerning all it is doing for the Tibetan people.

New roads, train lines, airfields all are said to be done to enhance the life of the Tibetan people.

 To raise them out of lives of virtual serfdom that supposedly existed pre 1951 under the Lama theocracy.

 And sure, China's investment in infrastructure has brought great change to the Tibetan people not all bad as some would have it. All measurable standards of living conditions have irrefutably improved under Communism.

The linked to article from the Indian Deecan Herald looks at these infrastructure changes in light of their worth from a  military and internal security viewpoint.

Particularly it looks at the ramifications for India's security of this considerable increase in China's logistical capability.

It goes without saying that Tibet sitting atop the the Sino-Indian border (So close that the existing Dalai Lama walked to India during his escape) is of immense importance to China from a strategic point of view.

Their desire to bolster their military capabilities and responsiveness anywhere in China  is totally understandable. That is their sovereign right and, may I say, duty to do so. This is more so in Tibet where there has existed smouldering animosity between India and China for decades punctuated with several border skirmishes.

The problem I have with all this is twofold


  1. That the ability to respond with considerable force is not only outward looking but could quite easily be turned inward, that is, internal security against "Separatists" and "Splitists" to wit: the Tibetan people.
  2. That China with it's propaganda about the good it is doing for the Tibetans does so in such a condescending way looking so to make her appear so very altruistic in the eyes of the world.
What can be done? Nothing China is doing nothing particularly wrong here other then to dabble in some pretty transparent self marketing.

Whether India has anything to worry about I would say yes. Not because I believe China has any expansionist ambitions in this area, or any area for that matter, but because they COULD and that is something to worry about. 

The problem for all is that " worry" is what causes border incidents and border incidents cause war.

The problems for the Tibetans and the Tibetan Government and Emigre groups in exile is that their battle was  lost a long time ago




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