Sino-Indian War of 1962 at http://www.historyguy.com/warfiles/sino-indian_war_warfile.htm

Read more: Chinese troops intrude into Ladakh, halt govt project – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chinese-troops-intrude-into-Ladakh-halt-govt-project/articleshow/7250270.cms#ixzz1AfFu2pON

Diaoyu-Senkaku Islands Dispute

Diaoyu-Senkaku Islands Dispute (2010)–While Japan and China have not fought a war since 1945, they really do not like each other. This is partially evidenced by the ongoing dispute over a group of uninhabited islands between Japan and Taiwarn (which China also claims, by the way). China calls them the Diaoyu Islands, while Japan calls them the Senkaku Islands (see map below). Both nations claim the islands as their territory, and this dispute escalated in September, 2010, when Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing trawler that collided with Japanese patrol boats and arrested the boat’s captain.
Nationalist-minded Chinese activists previously have landed on the rocky islands in order to raise the Chinese flag, but the boat incident is the most serious diplomatic dispute over these islands in decades.  For more historical information on the past wars and conflicts between Japan and China, go to  http://www.historyguy.com/sino-japanese_wars.html

Worth reading at

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2002378,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo#ixzz0tCs7qvvG

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out an uncomfortable truth: Namely that the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, still really do not like nor trust each other very much.  And, to add some spice to this long-standing rivalry, one needs to only remember that these two Asian giants share a very long border, but that they are both nuclear powers. 

As stated in the WSJ:

On June 8, New Delhi announced it would deploy two additional army divisions and two air force squadrons near its border with China. Beijing responded furiously to the Indian announcement, hardening its claim to some 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory that China disputes.

China and India fought a nasty border war back in 1962, over disputed land along the border, and they never really settled the issue satisfactorily.  The WSJ points out that in recent years, China has worked hard to put in many roads and other infrastructure that could facilitate troop and weapon movement in the event of a new conflict.  India has not done similar work on its side of the border.

In recent years however China has been raising the temperature at the border. Chinese claims to Arunachal Pradesh and frequent Chinese “incursions” into the nearby Indian state of Sikkim have begun to multiply in line with Beijing’s rising economic and political influence. Moreover, unlike India, China has methodically developed its infrastructure along the disputed border, littering the barren terrain with highways and railways capable of moving large numbers of goods and troops.

For its part, New Delhi has become both increasingly aware of its disadvantage and exceedingly suspicious of China’s intentions. India’s June 8 announcement that it will deploy two additional army mountain divisions to the northeastern state of Assam will bring India’s troop levels in the region to more than 100,000. The Indian Air Force, meanwhile, announced it will station two squadrons of advanced Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft in Tezpur, also in Assam. They will be complemented by three Airborne Warning and Control Systems and the addition or upgrade of airstrips and advanced landing stations.

The article also points out that China has invested in projects in nations throughout South Asia, including in nations with ongoing or recent issues with India, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

China has been spending a lot of financial and political capital to extend its influence around Asia, and also into Africa and Latin America.  China’s military is quickly improving and modernizing by leaps and bounds.  India is bordered by nations who do not like India, and China is making friends with India’s other enemies, such as Myanmar/Burma.  India had best watch out, and the American government needs to work hard to keep China from flexing its muscles at the expense of democratic India.

 See also:

http://www.historyguy.com/india-bangladesh_2001.htm

http://www.historyguy.com/kargil_war.html

http://www.historyguy.com/indo_pakistani-wars.html

http://www.historyguy.com/kashmir_links.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124578881101543463.html

In March of 2009, several incidents took place between

the military forces of the United States and the military

forces of the People’s Republic of China at sea. Below is a

listing of these naval and air incidents. 

In June, 2009, an Chinese submarine collided with a sonar

array towed by a U.S. destroyer near the Philippines 

 

June 12, 2009–A Chinese submarine hit an

underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer USS

John McCain on June 11, 2009. The sonar array received

damage, but the Chinese submarine and the American

destroyer did not collide. This incident occurred near

Subic Bay, Philippines. 

March 8, 2009–Five Chinese vessels harassed

and obstructed the USNS Impeccable in the South China

Sea, 70 mile from the coast of the Chineses island of

Hainan. The Chinese ships surrounded the Impeccable and

two of the ships closed to within 50 feet of the American

ship. The Chinese ships included a Chinese navy

intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime

Fisheries patrol vessel, a State Oceanographic

Administration patrol vessel and two small

Chinese-flagged trawlers. 

Crewmen aboard the Impeccable used fire hoses to spray

one of the harassiing Chinese ships as a protective

measure. The Chinese crewmembers stripped to their

underwear and continued manning their posts, closing to

within 25 feet of the Americans. 

The Chinese also dropped pieces of wood into the water

directly in the Impeccable’s path, and two of the

ships halted directly in the U.S. vessel’s path,

forcing it to stop. 

Chinese sailors used poles, attempting to snag the

Impeccable’s towed acoustic array sonars. Impeccable

used bridge-to-bridge radio contact to inform the Chinese

ships that it was leaving the area and requested a safe

path to navigate. 

China accused the U.S. Navy of conducting illegal

surveying off southern Hainan island. 

 

March 7, 2009–A Chinese naval vessel

challenged the USNS Impeccable via bridge-to-bridge

radio, accusing the Impeccable of conducting illegal

operations and told the American ship to leave the area

or “suffer the consequences.” 

March 5, 2009–Chinese maritime aircraft

“buzzed” the USNS Impeccable 12 times. This

came after an incident earlier in the day. 

March 5, 2009 –A Chinese frigate crossed the

bow of the USNS Impeccable at a range of about 100

yards 

March 4, 2009–A Chinese patrol vessel shined a

high-intensity spotlight on the USNS Victorious, while it

was operating in the Yellow Sea some 125 miles from the

Chinese coast. 

 

 

.

 

 

Links:

 

 

Sub

collides with sonar array towed by U.S. Navy

ship–CNN, June 12, 2009

US

 

claims naval clash with China–FT.com, March 10,

2009 

Chinese

Vessels Shadow, Harass Unarmed U.S. Survey

Ship–American Forces Press Service, March 9,

2009 

 

 

Sources and

 

March 8, 2009–Five Chinese vessels
harassed and obstructed the USNS Impeccable in the South
China Sea, 70 mile from the coast of the Chineses island
of Hainan. The Chinese ships surrounded the Impeccable
and two of the ships closed to within 50 feet of the
American ship. The Chinese ships included a Chinese navy
intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime
Fisheries patrol vessel, a State Oceanographic
Administration patrol vessel and two small
Chinese-flagged trawlers.

Crewmen aboard the Impeccable used fire hoses to spray
one of the harassiing Chinese ships as a protective
measure. The Chinese crewmembers stripped to their
underwear and continued manning their posts, closing to
within 25 feet of the Americans.

The Chinese also dropped pieces of wood into the water
directly in the Impeccable’s path, and two of the
ships halted directly in the U.S. vessel’s path,
forcing it to stop.

There is a new web page on the historyguy.com site detailing some of these Sino-Tibetan Wars and Conflicts.  It is at: http://www.historyguy.com/tibet_china_wars_conflicts.html

While normally I take as neutral a position as possible while explaining world conflicts on the main historyguy.com website, and leaving my more opinionated commentary for this blog, I come down against the continued repression by the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet.  I see a distinction in identifying the brutality and evil of the occupation as sourced in the Communist ideology than in any innately Chinese cultural aspects.  When an authoritarian, dictatorial regime conquers a smaller, basically defenseless nation, it can never be justified.  I liken the Chinese occupation of Tibet with the other evil occupations of history, such as the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, or the Soviet conquest of the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia).

Those once-captive nations eventually regained their freedom, and one day too, Tibet may once again see the back-end of the Communist occupying forces, just as, after the 1911 Revolution, Tibet saw the last of the Manchu Imperial occupation army.   

Wars and Conflicts of Burma/Myanmar –The Wars and Conflicts of Burma/Myanmar from the Anglo-Burmese Wars to the pro-democracy Myanmar uprising of 2007.

http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_burma_myanmar.htm

If China attacked, would the U.S step in?

Excerpt from:  http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/17/america/NA-GEN-US-China-Taiwan.php

 China’s
misplaced confidence in war control a danger U.S. intelligence officer says

The Associated Press, July 17, 2007

WASHINGTON: A U.S. intelligence officer on Tuesday
said China appeared to have too much confidence that it could
manipulate the scale of a war with rival Taiwan.

Lonnie Henley, an East Asia specialist in the office of the Director
of National Intelligence, said Chinese officials are increasingly
studying the concept of "war control" to evaluate scenarios should
fighting break out with Taiwan…