China Planned Galwan Valley Incident, Says US-China Economic And Security Review Commission Report

Dec 02, 2020

The US Congressional Commission report showed satellite images that depicted a large Chinese buildup in the Galwan Valley, including potentially 1,000 PLA soldiers, the week before the deadly skirmish

New Delhi: The Chinese government planned the Galwan Valley clash with ‘fatalities’ on the Indian side in mind, according to a report by a top United States security committee.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) told the US Congress in its annual report that just weeks before the June 15 faceoff, China had signalled its intent to escalate tensions with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The report noted that “if China’s goal was ‘to acquire territory… [the Chinese government] might deem the moves a success’. If Beijing intended to dissuade India from building infrastructure on its side of the LAC or warn it against aligning with the United States, however, ‘then the Chinese moves have been ineffective, if not counterproductive’.”

USCC was formed in 2000 and investigates national security and trade issues between China and the US. It also provides recommendations to US Congress for legislative and administrative action on Beijing.

While the “exact motivations behind the Chinese government’s provocative behaviour” on the Line of actual control (LAC) “this year remain unclear”, the report said, the “proximate cause” of the clash appeared to be India’s construction of a “strategic access road to support troops” stationed in the border areas.

It highlighted how several weeks prior to the clash, Chinese “Defense Minister Wei (Fenghe) made his statement encouraging Beijing to use fighting to promote stability” and how an editorial in the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times warned that India would suffer a “devastating blow” to its trade and economic ties with China if it got “involved in the US-China rivalry.”

The report said, “Beijing ramped up its multiyear coercion campaign against its neighbours, provoking military or paramilitary standoffs with countries from Japan to India and much of Southeast Asia.”

The report also mentions Pakistan, saying Chinese forces have “secured access and potential naval basing facilities in Pakistan”.

Courtesy: ET