China, Japan and India in spotlight

[Vikrant]

This is where the action is.

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Meanwhile, a raft of data is expected out of India this week, with the spotlight falling on the wholesale price index (WPI) and consumer price index (CPI) for December.

Due on Monday, Reuters economists forecast CPI to accelerate to 5.4 percent in December, from 4.4 percent in November. Meanwhile, WPI, due for release Wednesday, is expected to increase 1.5 percent, compared to November's flat reading – which is the index's lowest since July 2009.

India's industrial production and trade data for the month of December will also be released this week.

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This week in Asia China Japan and India in spotlight

 

[Moonglow]

It can't always be bad...

 

[Vikrant]

Japan's foreign minister Fumio Kishida chose India as his first destination after being reappointed foreign minister. Here he shares Japan's views on bilateral ties.


Read more at:
Abenomics can give a fillip to Modinomics Japan foreign minister Fumio Kishida - The Economic Times

 

[Vikrant]

BEIJING: China has snubbed Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida for his statement acknowledging Arunachal Pradesh as part of India.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman slammed Japan, asking it to mind its own business instead of interfering in India-China relationship. The Chinese reaction came after Kishida said that Japan was ready to invest in infrastructure projects in India's landlocked north-east, but it would not invest in Arunachal Pradesh, although it did see the state as part of India.

Reacting to Japanese minister's statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "We are seriously concerned about this and have lodged serious representation with the Japanese side. We hope Japan can fully understand the sensitivity of China-India border issues and respect the efforts that both sides have taken to resolve the disputes through negotiations."

Hong said that Japan should be "prudent in its words and actions" and added that China and India are trying to resolve the boundary question in a manner that is fair, reasonable and acceptable to both sides.

The spokesman pointed out that Japan had earlier said that it holds no position and it will not intervene in the boundary dispute between China and India. He said Japan should now clarify on the recent statement and 'remove the negative implications' arising from it.

Pointing out that China claims ownership of Arunachal, Hong said the state includes "three areas in Tibet Autonomous Region - Monyul, Loyul and Lower Tsayul - currently under Indian illegal occupation".

China regards the Mcmahon Line as illegal and claims areas in north-east along the line as Chinese territory.

China snubs Japan for calling Arunachal part of India - The Times of India

 

[Vikrant]

BEIJING: Amid concerns over the widening trade deficit, India today hoped that China will open up its market to Indian companies and promised to make it easier for Chinese firms to do business in India.

"A critical change in nature of our bilateral ties over the last few decades has been its growing economic dimension. China is today our largest partner in trade in goods. The two economies are moving to invest each other," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.

"Serio ..

Read more at:
India wants China to open its market to Indian firms - The Economic Times

 

[Vikrant]

India caught in China-Japan bind over military parade request


India is finding itself weighing a delicate diplomatic balancing act as it decides on a request from China to send a high-level military delegation for a landmark military parade that Beijing is hosting on September 3.
New Delhi is yet to take a call on China's overture, according to sources, with the military parade becoming an increasingly sensitive issue in already thorny relations between China and Japan.

While the parade is being held to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War as well as China's "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression", diplomats say it has taken on a political hue as tensions simmer between China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea and unresolved questions over wartime history. Wartime atrocities committed by Japanese forces remain a sensitive issue in both China and South Korea.

China has asked India to send high-level representation as well as a military contingent of 75 troops to take part in what will be a grand parade on Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing.
The view in Beijing is that the level of representation from invited countries including India will be an indication of how countries are positioning themselves amid China-Japan tensions.

Sources told India Today that Japan's concerns about the parade would be a factor in India's decision-making.

Both Beijing and Tokyo have accused the other of politicising the event. Beijing says many countries, from those in the West to Russia, have held events to mark the end of the Second World War and it is being unfairly criticised for hosting what will be a rare parade in Beijing involving foreign forces.

Yet the view in Tokyo is that China is using the occasion to highlight wartime atrocities, attempt to draw a link between on-going maritime differences and Japan's militaristic past, and inflame regional concerns.

The Presidents of Russia, Mongolia, Egypt and the Czech Republic have so far confirmed attendance.

"The US has been weighing its options. Whether the US will dispatch an envoy to attend the parade and the rank of this envoy will reflect to what degree the US sees the event as a political gesture from China to deter Japan," leading strategic expert Jia Qingguo, Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, told the Party-run Global Times on Monday.

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India caught in China-Japan bind over military parade request India News - India Today

 

[Vikrant]

China Threatens India Over Japan’s Military Drills

To outsiders, China is the only Asian tiger that has military capability to start and sustain a long-drawn-out war, considering its numerous armies and state-of-the-art weaponry. But in reality that military permutation is absolutely incorrect: Japan as well as India are formidable Asian military powerhouses that can hold their own when it comes to regional military showmanship. As a matter of fact, Japan has to its name an inglorious militarization past when it occupied many countries in the Asia sub-region, including China itself and countries like Singapore, Philippines, South Korea and so on. Indian military might has withstood Chinese armies on several occasions. A typical India-China onslaught that readily comes to mind is the “Border War” of 1962 when Indian soldiers defended a strip of land in the Himalayas, which China also laid claim to.

China Threatens India Over Japan s Military Drills