India stands up to China’s Salami slicing tactics even as it unleashes Covid-19 amidst a showdown with Trump

@prashanthamine

Mumbai: In the global perspective the year 2020 was more dominated by China as it tried to behave like a ‘Bull in the China-shop’, using its Salami slicing tactics against most of its territorial neighbours including India. China hit the roadblock as India stood up to its land grabbing attempts in the Galwan valley in a bloody standoff on June 15 earlier this year that even left the Chinese Dragon visibly shaken.

Throughout 2020 China has indulged in unprovoked, illegal intrusions along the Sino-Indian borders at Pangong Tso, Hot Springs, Glawan valley, Kungrang Nala, Depsang, Gurung Hill, Rechin La in Ladakh and in Sikkim. China had tried to brow-beat India by raking up the 1962 Sino-Indian war and got a bloody nose at Galwan valley.

All this was happening as it became abundantly clear that it was China that was responsible for the spread of the deadly Coronavirus and the resultant Covid-19 pandemic. China under Xi Jinping which still apparently had delusions about the 1962 war never expected such a bloody response from India.

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The 1962 war was in a different era and context based on misplaced trust. Today the geo-politics of the region has changed with US, Australia, Japan and India forming the Quad to take on the might of the China in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the South China Seas (SCS).

China might feel a bit relieved as US President Donald Trump does not get a second chance at the Presidency as he had kept it under the pump as it were with sanctions. There was chorus to act against China and hold it accountable for the spread of the Coronavirus.

Based on the series of exposes by NTD correspondent and China activist Jennifer Zeng and exposes carried out by thenews21 a lawsuit was even filed to that effect by Larry Klayman in the US on March 25 seeking reparations from China.

Unmindful of the international opinion arrayed against it, China still went about its brutal crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong. In June-July it enacted the draconian National Security Law (NSL) aimed at crushing dissent in Hong Kong. As per provisions of Article 38 of the NSL, it shall apply to offences committed by any person who is not a permanent resident of the region (Hong Kong). China has armed itself with over-arching and sweeping powers to arrest any person, even foreign nationals it perceives to be anti-China.

The year also saw a bitterly fought US Presidential election. Although Democrat Joe Biden is scheduled to take oath of office on January 20, 2021, the path to the Oval Office is still littered with litigations and endless accusations of voter fraud. With Trump reluctant to concede victory, this election will go down in the US history as one of the most acrimonious and not so cleanest in recent memory.

Apparently the first visible signs of the storm brewing between the Republicans and Democrats were when former Federal Election Commission (FEC) election commissioner Caroline Hunter (Republican) resigned following her tiff with fellow election commissioner Ellen L Weintraub (Democrat) on June 26 over Trumps 2016 election funding issue.

The fact that it took 100 years for any US president to grant pardon to Susan B Anthony for defying male only voting rights in 1872, speaks volumes of women’s voting rights in the US. Another weird thing about the US elections is that any voter who has not registered himself can get himself registered as a voter even on a voting day and even cast his vote. This raises serious questions about voter identification, verification and the authenticity of the entire process.

After Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June 2019, hopes were rekindled once again of the reunification of the divided Korean peninsula. Hopes rose further as the year marked the 70^th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War. It has often being described as the ‘Forgotten War’.

Earlier in the year, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in no uncertain terms reminded his counterpart of the European Union (EU) Parliament over India’s sovereignty as the EU parliament toyed with the idea of a maliciously motivated joint resolution on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).