Amid the raging Indo-China border tensions that have been going on for weeks, the Chinese media only seems to be getting more aggressive. Now, popular Chinese newspaper People's Daily has invoked the 1962 India-China war and even dug out an editorial published a week before the conflict. Additionally, another website has reportedly published a few images from the time calling it "rare."
People's Daily posted an image of an editorial, which was published on September 22, 1962, and was titled "If this can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated," on microblogging site Weibo and spoke about the Indian Army's provocation at the time, reported India Today.
Like China has been insisting that India withdraw its troops from the border in Sikkim, the 1962 editorial also demanded the same and said that if India doesn't withdraw, China would "take necessary defensive measures" and "the Indian side would be fully responsible" for it.
Not just editorials and images, People's Daily has also been speaking of the issue on Weibo and WeChat and has also shared images of a map which shows India's "trespass" in Doklam. The message reads: "@India - The Borderline is the bottom line!" said India Today.
This is not the first time that China has invoked the 1962 war. It had earlier said that India should learn from "historical lessons" and "stop clamouring for war."
"Such rhetoric is extremely irresponsible. We hope (the) particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war," Hindustan Times quoted Wu Qian, a spokesperson of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), as saying. Qian's statement comes after Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat visited the region and said that India was ready to deal with China, Pakistan and internal security issues.
Later Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had slammed China's 1962 war comment and said: "The situation in 1962 was different and India of 2017 is different."
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has once again said that talks are possible only if India withdraws its army from the border. "If the Indian troops are preparing for the long term with no intention to leave, then how can there be room for diplomatic solutions?" said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on Monday.
"India should immediately withdraw its people without any condition. That comes before any substantial dialogue. The diplomatic channels between the two sides are open, but we would like to see some real efforts and concrete actions from the Indian side."
Not just the India-China border tensions, the country has even said that it was willing to play a "constructive role" to help India and Pakistan to sort the conflict better their relationship.
