India refutes China’s claims of disengagement; says build up continues at Pangong, Gogra

• At the Pangong Lake, the biggest flashpoint the Chinese did move back from Finger 4 to Finger 5 on the bank but still remain on the mountain spurs or the ridge line.
• India has refuted China’s claims that disengagement in most friction points is complete. According to sources, not much has changed at Gogra and Pangong Lake for over a fortnight even as a new status quo has emerged.
• China has been silent on the status of Pangong Lake while it claims disengagement at Galwan, Hot Springs and Gogra is complete.
• Chinese FM spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on yesterday in Beijing that disengagement is complete in these three points.
• Sources say troops from both sides are still in close proximity at Gogra and Pangong Lake.
• The Pangong Lake and Hot Spring-Gogra area that is part of Patrol Point 17A still remains volatile.
• At the Pangong Lake, which is the biggest flashpoint, the Chinese did move back from Finger 4 to Finger 5 on the bank but still remain on the mountain spurs or the ridgeline.
• The Indian troops are between Finger 3 and Finger 2 on the bank of the lake.
• Sources said there are still no signs of the Chinese army dismantling the structures they had set up between Finger 8 and Finger 4.

China’s intentionally false claim that “disengagement is complete in most places” is part of its effort to impose the new status quo its aggression has created in five Ladakh hotspots: Pangong Lake, Gogra, Hot Springs, Galwan Valley, and Depsang. The ball is in India’s court now.– Brahma Chellaney

• The distance between troops from both sides is of 4-5 km on the bank of the river but on the mountain ridges of the lake, the troops are separated by less than 1 km, sources said.
• This situation has not changed since the last two weeks after the Corps Commander level talks on July 14.
• This shows the disengagement is still not complete at the lake where the Chinese had camped at Finger 4 that was always under Indian control.
• The Chinese had come in 8km till Finger 4 from Finger 8.
• India maintains the Line of Actual Control runs through Finger 8.
• The mountain spurs jutting into the lake are referred to as Fingers in military parlance.
• In fact, the Chinese have only been strengthening their positions between Finger 5 and 8.
• The build-up of large troop’s mobilization continues. Moreover, Indian Army has already started to plan for the winter deployment.
• In response to the Chinese mobilization, India has moved in additional boots on the ground already.
• There is a strength of 45,000 to 50,000 and arrangements need to be made to sustain them even in peak winter when temperatures can dip to -25 degrees and below.

Indian Navy’s clear message to Beijing following escalation of border tension ‘registered’ by China: TOI

• The Indian Navy’s clear message to Beijing through its aggressive deployment of almost all frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean Region following escalation in the border row in eastern Ladakh has been “registered” by China, top defense sources said on Tue.
• The Indian Navy deployed a range of its frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to send a clear message to China.
• The sources told PTI that the government adopted a multi-pronged approach involving the Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy as well diplomacy and economic measures to send a clear signal to China that its misadventure in eastern Ladakh was not acceptable at all.
• They said the three service chiefs are engaged in deliberations on almost a daily basis to ensure a coordinated approach in dealing with the situation as well as to make China understand about India’s clear message.
• The sources said the three services are coordinating on the military response to the border row.
• The Navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the IOR deploying a plethora of warships and submarines to create pressure points on China as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for its supply chain through sea routes.
• “Yes, our message has been registered by China,” said a source without elaborating.

Be more like Pakistan, China tells Afghanistan and Nepal at four-country meet

China on Mon urged Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan to forge “four-party cooperation” to overcome the Covid-19 crisis and continue work on projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

• Presiding over a virtual meeting with his counterparts from the three countries, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, one of China’s senior-most diplomats with the rank of state councilor said the four states should work together to extend CPEC to Afghanistan.
• The video conference, organized by Beijing ostensibly to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, was held against the backdrop of the months-long India-China border standoff.
• Given India’s currently strained ties with Nepal, the meeting is unlikely to go down well with the foreign policy establishment in New Delhi.
• Wang, said the four states should give “full play to geographic advantages, strengthen exchanges and connections between the four countries and Central Asian countries, and maintain regional peace and stability”, according to a statement in Mandarin issued on Mon night.
• The four countries should also “actively promote the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the trans-Himalayan three-dimensional interconnectivity network, support the extension of [CPEC] to Afghanistan, and further release the regional interconnection dividend”, he said.
• The online meeting was joined by Pakistan’s foreign and economic ministers, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Khushro Bakhtiar, Nepal’s foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali and Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Hanif Atmar.
  • Even for China, it is rare to call for four-party cooperation in South Asia without involving India. But the move fits Beijing’s current narrative.
  • The statement from China’s foreign ministry indicated Beijing is looking at a more permanent cooperation mechanism with the three South Asian countries than just working together to counter the pandemic.
  • The meeting added to Beijing’s own narrative that it is ready to play a bigger role in war-torn Afghanistan’s peace process.
  • For Nepal, it was an opportunity to send out a message about its increasingly snug ties with China amid the strained relations with India.
  • As for Pakistan, Wang himself cited the example of “iron brother” ties between Islamabad and Beijing. Emphasizing that having good neighbors is “good fortune”, Wang called on Nepal and Afghanistan to follow the example of Sino-Pakistan cooperation to fight the pandemic.
  • Wang said learning from the Sino-Pakistan cooperation, Afghanistan and Nepal should expand four-nation joint prevention and control of Covid-19 and make arrangements for epidemic prevention, resumption of economic activity and personnel exchanges.
  • He said under the principle of anti-epidemic cooperation, the four countries should open up “fast channels” and “green channels” for personnel and logistics as soon as possible.
  • They should also strengthen joint prevention and control in border areas, and frame jointly recognized standard operating procedures for epidemic notification, prevention, management and control, he said.
  • As part of post-pandemic recovery and economic development, Wang said, the other countries should firmly promote the joint construction of BRI, promote the resumption of key cooperation projects, maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains, and create new economic growth points in the digital field.

The shutting down of the Chinese consulate in Houston indicates that the US is likely making it an example in order to achieve its goal of a reduction in Beijing’s espionage activities without taking even harsher measures, such as shuttering its San Francisco or New York consulates, Axios reported. “San Francisco is the real gem but the US will not close it,” a former American intelligence official told Axios.

US, Australia announce working group to combat China’s ‘harmful’ disinformation ANI

• The United States and Australia on Tue (local time) announced a new working group to check China’s “harmful” disinformation on COVID-19 pandemic and other issues.
• Speaking at a press conference following the 30^th Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) here, Australian FM Marise Payne, in a veiled reference to China, said that “some countries were using the COVID-19 pandemic to undermine liberal democracy”.
• Apart from Pompeo and Payne, US Secretary of Defense and his Australian counterpart Linda Reynolds were present in the press conference.
• “COVID-19 has, without doubt, exacerbated the security challenges in our region. Some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy.
• The role of multilateral institutions is more important now than ever in supporting our values and our strategic objectives as the world respond to the health and economic challenges of COVID-19,” she said in the joint press conference with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo by her side.
• “We are therefore pleased also to be able to announce a new working group between Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the US Department of State to monitor and respond to harmful disinformation,” she said.
• Payne said that Australia and the US reiterated their commitment to holding states to account when they breach international norms and laws, and noted the two sides will continue to do so in relation to China’s erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong.
• The top Australian diplomat said that both countries have agreed to expand cooperation under the health security partnership to explore opportunities to detect and respond to infectious disease threats, including ensuring access to vital vaccines.
• On his part, Pompeo said the US commends the Australian government for standing up for democratic values and the rule of law, despite intense, continued, coercive pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to bow to Beijing’s wishes.
• “It is unacceptable for Beijing to use exports or student fees as a cudgel against Australia.
• We stand with our Australian friends,” Pompeo said at the conference.
• The two sides discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and Washington commends Canberra for publicly condemning China’s disinformation campaign and insisting on an independent review into the origin of the virus, he said.
• Pompeo stated that the two countries look forward to working together on bringing their respective economies back on track from the “entirely preventable pandemic”.
• “We look forward to working together on our nations’ ongoing economic recovery from this entirely preventable pandemic.
• Today, we reaffirmed our collective commitment to strengthening supply chains, so that they are resilient against future pandemics, CCP retaliation, and the use of forced labor,” he said. Pompeo underlined that the US and Australia “spent a great deal of time” discussing the CCP’s attempts to dominate the technology space.
• “We also addressed the CCP’s attempts to dominate the technology space. We, in fact, spent a great deal of time on this issue.
• Australia was ahead of us in awakening to the threat of untrusted vendors like Huawei and ZTE. We look forward to nations becoming ‘Clean Countries’ together,” he said.

MOFA briefs WHO experts’ work in China

China urged the US and Australia to view China in a fair manner after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper held two days of talks with their Australian counterparts seeking new military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) needs to visit other countries and regions as well for tracing the origin of the novel coronavirus, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wed.
• “We hope all related countries can collaborate actively with WHO like what China did,” he added.
• Two WHO experts arrived in China in mid-July and conducted scientific cooperation on virus tracing.
• Multiple video conferences were held during their quarantine. They discussed topics including virus tracing and route of transmission with Chinese experts.