Articles By Claude Arpi
No Losar in Tibet, but...
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 23 Feb , 2020
On February 11, Xinhua announced that the Tibetan New Year activities had been called off ‘amid virus outbreak’. The news agency said: “Large-scale traditional religious activities during...
Turbulent times for Beijing
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 15 Feb , 2020
The world is going through tumultuous times. China, too, has not been spared. A dreaded virus has struck the Middle Kingdom and there’s no end in sight for the epidemic though it seems to be...
How killer Corona virus has dented President Xi's mandate
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 12 Feb , 2020
Dynasties in the Middle Kingdom go through cycles. The Emperor of a strong and just dynasty brings peace and prosperity to the people with the ‘Mandate of Heaven’. With time, the system becomes...
Wrong person at wrong time
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 31 Jan , 2020
India’s controversial Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon was recently in the news, courtesy a well-researched book, which did not elaborate enough on the implications for the country on account...
Situation worsens for Tibetans as China dictates terms to Nepal and Myanmar
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 29 Jan , 2020
While addressing a Chinese Lunar New Year reception held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Xi Jinping remarked: “From now to the middle of this century, the Chinese people...
Hans lead in China’s poverty alleviation projects
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 22 Jan , 2020
In the recent months, China has started in a massive relocation scheme in Tibet, redrawing the demography of India’s borders. Beijing admits that though the rural poverty rate was more than 97.5...
Has China hit the spending curb?
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 20 Jan , 2020
One question is highly relevant to predict China’s future: How deep are the pockets of Chairman Xi Jinping, recently promoted to People’s Leader of Communist China? Beijing’s status in the world...
Lessons for China
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 16 Jan , 2020
The just-concluded presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan might remain a turning point in the life of not only the island but the entire region. President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic...
Relocations on India’s Borders
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 11 Jan , 2020
In the recent months, China has started in a massive relocation scheme in Tibet, redrawing the demography of India’s borders. Beijing admits that though the rural poverty rate was more than 97.5...
India’s China agenda
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 05 Jan , 2020
There is no doubt that 2019 has been a special year for China: Lavish events were organised to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In 1949,...
2019: A turbulent and eventful year for Indo-China relations
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 31 Dec , 2019
This has been a turbulent and eventful year for Sino-Indian relations. The informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, helped maintain a ‘sound...
Why it is the right time to reclaim Gilgit-Baltistan
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 17 Dec , 2019
Recently, I came across an interesting announcement published in the 1948 London Gazette which mentioned that the King “has been graciously pleased… to give orders for… appointments to the...
How China released Indian troops after the 1962 War
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 09 Dec , 2019
While the media speaks of the ‘Wuhan Consensus’ or ‘Chennai Connect’, it is necessary not to forget that several aspects of the 1962 Sino-Indian War have never been properly clarified,...
Xi Jinping's many problems: Hong Kong to Xinjiang
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 03 Dec , 2019
Since his visit to Mamallapuram, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been facing a rough sea at home. The 4th plenary session of the 19th Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee was held in...
How Rafale verdict proved to be a win for India
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 22 Nov , 2019
The second week of November 2019 will be a marquee event in the annals of the Indian judiciary. Several important, long-pending issues were decided by the Supreme Court of India led by CJI Ranjan...
The truth about Ladakh’s Shaksgam: Correcting historical wrongs in J&K
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 16 Nov , 2019
Soon after India reorganized the former state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) into the new Union Territories (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, China went ballistic. Geng Shuang, a spokesman of...
The Archives of Leh
By: Claude Arpi | Issue: Courtesy: http://claudearpi.blogspot.in/ | Date: 11 Nov , 2019
As an aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the former State of Jammu & Kashmir has been reorganised into the new Union Territories (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir and...
Why India's Northern Borders are Threatened
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 07 Nov , 2019
In the months to come, the 4056-kilometrre long India-China border will be in the news; probably for wrong reasons. Despite last month’s ‘Chennai Connect’ between Prime Minister Modi and...
How Xi Jinping crossed the Nepal hurdle
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 28 Oct , 2019
When Chinese President Xi Jinping boarded his Hongqi limousine in Mamallapuram, he was on his way to the airport and Nepal. Official Chinese media had announced that he would sign an extradition...
Was Modi-Xi Chennai meet a ‘civilisational’ encounter?
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 18 Oct , 2019
Indian commentators have always been fond of the word ‘civilisational’, it was already so during the Nehruvian days, it continues today; it must be something anchored in Indian genes. As I...