By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, July 25: The Chinese government yesterday vehemently criticized India’s move to refuse visa permits for three Xinhua’s journalists calling it a “petty act” that can compound to “serious consequences” in an editorial in the state run Global Times dated July 24, 2016.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Indian government has declined renewal of work visa for the three senior journalists – Wu Qiang and Lu Tang, Bureau Chief in Delhi and Mumbai respectively, and a Mumbai-based reporter She Yonggang. The three employees of the Chinese government mouth piece Xinhua have been asked to leave the country by July 31.
With the Indian governments silence on the reason for the denial for the extensions, speculation is rife as to what necessitated such steps by an otherwise tolerant and accommodating India. According to the Indian daily Times of India, the step was taken after the intelligence agencies reported them of ‘impersonating other people and visiting restricted facilities under assumed names.’ Some reports also claimed their pursuit of exiled Tibetan activists particularly in Bangalore amounted to red flags being raised.
The editorial while denying the accusations that alleged that the three journalists were involved in activities beyond their duties, retorted, “Speculation is swirling that India is taking revenge against China for the latter’s opposition to India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). If New Delhi is really taking revenge due to the NSG membership issue, there will be serious consequences.”
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that the three Chinese journos have been issued visa extensions on multiple occasions and that they would welcome the agency to send successors to the three.
Hinting on a return jab for India’s move, the editorial read, “On the visa issue this time, we should take actions to display our reaction. We at least should make a few Indians feel Chinese visas are also not easy to get.” However, China has displayed time and again that they need not be instigated for such acts of overstepping Indian sovereignty. China has played on the rhetoric of visas and what it implies since 2009 when it issued stapled visas instead of the stamped ones to Indians from Kashmir region and Arunachal Pradesh which China claims to be their territory.
Whatever episode surfaces on the forefront of diplomacy between the two Asian powers, observers say India is finally playing the game China has invented to play on rhetorics and doing the occasional hit and run charade.
Yet in the scheme of bigger things, the squabbles and disenchantments between the two largest economies of the world can safely be merited to the common desire to claim unchallenged authority over Asia and use it as a springboard to cover global ground.
