Articles By Claude Arpi
Alzeimerish China
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 18 Jan , 2019
Cary Huang, a senior columnist with the South China Morning Post, wrote recently: “In 2019, China ushers in a year full of both festive jubilation and political trouble. Its communist leadership...
Wake Up India
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 16 Jan , 2019
It is rather unusual to wish your countrymen (and your neighbours) with a War Cry. It is what Xi Jinping, the Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and Chinese President,...
While the heart of Tibet was bleeding the free world only made speeches
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 14 Jan , 2019
Cary Huang, a senior columnist of The South China Morning Post recently wrote: “China has a lot to celebrate in 2019, but it also has old wounds to heal.” He believes that with its packed 2019...
China Prepares for War
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 12 Jan , 2019
On January 8, the Chinese State-owned Global Times reported that some units of the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) stationed in Tibet have been equipped with a new vehicle-mounted...
World on a boil
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 06 Jan , 2019
The Planet is in turmoil. This did not start in 2018, but it worsened during the past year and without being a Bird of Bad Omen, it will continue in 2019. The 2018 Award for Chaos goes to...
In 2019, why India must remain cautious of Chinese intentions
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 04 Jan , 2019
China watchers are breathing easier; India and China are friends again. On December 21, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in New Delhi for a four-day visit to...
China: A Great Economic Game looms in 2019
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 02 Jan , 2019
Year 2019 will be a crucial year for China. Following the 1911 Revolution in China, the Manchu (Qing) dynasty disintegrated, triggering the fall of imperial rule. Eight years later, the May Fourth...
Big Data near the Indian Border
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 29 Dec , 2018
Baima (or Padma in Tibetan) is a township in Pashoe County (Baxoi in Chinese) in Chamdo City of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR); it lies at an altitude of 3,772 metres (12,378 ft) on the...
The protectors of the sacred homeland and the builders of happy homes (II)
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 27 Dec , 2018
Year 2019 saw the mushrooming of model villages in Tibet at the proximity of the Indian border. Govern the nation by governing the borders; govern the borders by first stabilizing Tibet; ensure...
Building synergies
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 21 Dec , 2018
A first meeting of the newly constituted India-China High Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges will be held on December 21 in New Delhi. It will be co-chaired by External...
The Karmapa controversy and the Dalai Lama’s ‘return’
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 16 Dec , 2018
The Karmapa has been in the news since 1992. He got again prominent coverage when a meeting scheduled to discuss the future of the Dalai Lama’s institution was ‘indefinitely’ postponed by...
Why Ladakh needs special status
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 13 Dec , 2018
On November 20, news from the high plateau of Ladakh said that Thupstan Chhewang, the lone local MP had resigned from his Lok Sabha seat; hardly a month earlier the BJP had failed to win a single...
Archaeology and politics
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 07 Dec , 2018
China has lately become very fond of archaeology though it is mainly a ‘political’ archaeology. On December 1, Xinhua published an article titled: ‘Qinghai-Tibet Plateau first conquered by...
Where is the Indian Trade Agency?
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 01 Dec , 2018
China Tibet News recently reported that the local Preserving Institution of Cultural Relics of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) had completed some archaeological work on Relics of the Qing...
How rest of the world is sponsoring China's Defence Researches
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 26 Nov , 2018
Since 2007, the PLA has sent more than 2,500 military scientists and engineers to study abroad and has developed relationships with researchers and institutions across the globe. The Australian...
Doklam Redux?
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 24 Nov , 2018
The 40th anniversary of “China’s reform and opening up” is being celebrated across China in 2018; the Chinese propaganda affirms: “Over the past 40 years, the country has transformed itself from...
Patel-Nehru rift over Tibet & China was deep
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 21 Nov , 2018
On October 31, the world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The work on the 182-metre tall statue has been...
The Chinese dichotomy
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 14 Nov , 2018
China is a country full of dichotomies. Take Buddhism. On one side, China promotes Buddhism; on the other hand, Beijing severely represses the Buddha dharma. On October 28, the World Buddhist...
How old CIA reports reveal that China has been repressing Muslims since the...
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 12 Nov , 2018
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a 117-page report entitled “Eradicating Ideological Viruses – China’s Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang’s Muslims;” it gave fresh...
The Party carries the people in its heart …when they are away from the border
By: Claude Arpi | Date: 01 Nov , 2018
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policy on the Indian borders is two-fold: one, to build ‘model’ villages (the villagers are said the ‘Guardians of the sacred land and the builders of...