China Hints at Keeping Sizeable Troop Presence Near Doklam

“Donglong [Doklam] is Chinese territory,” said Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Defence.

The Doklam crisis might be past, but tensions persist. The Chinese military on Thursday hinted that it would maintain a “sizeable presence” of its troops near the disputed area through winter, doubling down on assertions that the region is Chinese territory.

The last time India and China faced each other at Doklam, it was in a 73-day standoff that ended in a stalemate of sorts. The two countries squared off at the trijunction between Bhutan, China, and India, with India stepping in to halt Chinese road-building and encroachment into territory Bhutan had claimed. For India, the prospect of China building a road so close to its vulnerable ‘Chicken’s Neck’ – a strip of land connecting the Indian mainland to the North East – was unacceptable.

The stalemate came to an uneasy conclusion as China, India and Bhutan engaged in delicate diplomatic maneuvering to resolve the crisis, with India withdrawing its troops – though India claims both sides withdrew simultaneously (China denies this) – and China halting its construction, at least temporarily.

Before the Doklam crisis, both China and India would withdraw their troops from the advanced regions of the border area during the harsh winter, according to official accounts. But China has now upended this informal practice.

“Donglong [Doklam] is Chinese territory,” Colonel Wu Qian, the Chinese Defence Ministry’s spokesperson, said on 30 November to PTI when asked about reports that the PLA would continue to keep troops close to the standoff area this winter.

“Based on this principle we will decide on the deployment of troops on our own," he continued.

The extended presence of Chinese troops near Yatung close to Dokalam reportedly prompted India too to maintain its presence there.

When asked whether the two sides had worked out a mechanism to avoid crises like Doklam in the future, like establishing a hotline for quick communication, Wu only said that the two sides were in touch on the issue. But the hotline could not be established between the two’s military headquarters, as recent reforms meant that China no longer maintained a military central office, Wu said.

(With inputs from PTI)