Indian Tiger, Chinese Tiger - Same Difference

Indian Tiger, Chinese Tiger - Same Difference

"One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers".

                                                                   Chinese saying

"A strong neighbour is a natural enemy".

                                                                   Indian saying   

           The three-week border stand-off between India and China, occasioned by Chinese incursions in Depsang Bulge in eastern Ladakh in April 2013 did not reach flashpoint but may have caused some damage to their already fragile relations. Whether it was accidental or deliberately staged, it took a flurry of backroom diplomatic activity mostly on the Indian side to mend fences and improve the atmospherics. Such flare-ups would recur but should be prevented.            

          Rivalries between India and China, some inherited, some acquired, have been subject of animated discussions and interesting debates in the incestuous circles  of  academicians, diplomats, defence experts and strategic analysts for eons. Both are large countries grappling with myriad complex domestic and external problems. In the bilateral sphere, their relations are mutually suspicious and often tense. With the exception of border dispute which is a gift of history and may shape their geography, other issues bedeviling their relations are propelled by their rapid economic and military growth, ambitions and prejudices. Both countries have huge population - China with 1.35 billion people is world's most populous and India at 1.24 billion close behind. Their GDP on PPP basis makes China ($ 11.44 trillion) second and India ($ 4.515 trillion) third largest economy in the world.  They have their roots in ancient civilizations going back to several thousand years.  There are contrasts too.   India is a pluralistic functioning democracy. A constitutional republic with a multi-party parliamentary system, active judiciary and vibrant media. On the other hand, China is a single party communist state controlled by NPC (National People's Congress) whose representatives are elected through indirect elections. NPC retains its monopoly on power and maintains strict control over the people. An authoritarian state which does better business than many capitalist countries. While democracy in India works as a pressure valve to cope with social discontent, an autocratic regime has helped China's meteoric rise on the world stage.

  However, both countries are plagued by similar socio-economic problems. Have a glance:

    Corruption: According to the Transparency International report (2012), China ranks 80th and India 94th out of 174 countries on the corruption perception index. It is generally agreed that China's economic reforms post-1992 opened up more opportunities for corruption which their leaders are finding difficult to contain No wonder China's former President Hu Jintao in an official statement in Nov 2012 concluded that "Fighting corruption and implementing political reforms is the most challenging problem. A failure to deal with corruption could bring down China's ruling communist party and the state it controls".  These sentiments find their echo in the statement of President Xi Jinping who said in Jan 2013 "We must have the resolution to fight every corrupt phenomenon, punish every corrupt official and constantly eradicate the soil which breeds corruption". He also called for cracking down on both tigers (high level officials) and flies (low level officials). Brave words but will there be perceptible change on the ground because Chinese government is very good in the beginning when they investigate someone, but then the cases would disappear in the system.   

    The dismal record of investigating agencies in India is even worse. One corruption scam unfolds after another at regular intervals in this country led, ironically, by an honest economist who had laid the foundations of India's economic reforms in 1992 as Finance minister. Read any newspaper, watch any TV channel corruption is prime news (some mega corruption cases include CWG, 2G Spectrum and Coalgate). The reputation of its premier investigating agency probing high-profile corruption cases in India suffered badly after the apex court in India called it "a caged parrot speaking in its master's (Govt of India) voice".  Over the years rampant and brazen corruption in India and China has seeped into every aspects of public life.

 

Environmental degradation: Great economic achievements have taken a heavy toll of its environment causing serious pollution of China's air, soil and water. Atmospheric conditions in China are among the worst in the world; in terms of both scale and concentration. China has the dubious distinction of being world's worst polluter and biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases. Desertification, soil erosion, salinization and loss of high-quality cultivated land to urban development have reduced the quality of land resources affecting 25% of the land area. Environmental degradation has reached alarming levels with 30% of its main rivers and 40% of tested groundwater found to be severely polluted. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water. 

India's record is equally bleak with massive degradation of forest and agricultural land, loss of bio-diversity and resource depletion (fresh water, minerals, forest, sand, rocks etc). It  is already 5th biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and  according to a World Bank study the annual cost of  environmental degradation in India is over US$ 62 billion equivalent to 5.7% of the country's GDP. A recent data analysis by Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) states that air pollution is the 5th leading cause of death in India, with 141 out of 180 cities monitored for studies exceeding the pollution norms.

Gap between rich and poor: The robust economic growth of China during last 20 years has never been achieved by any country in the history but this impressive growth has been unbalanced as witnessed between the rich cities and impoverished countryside. China has nearly 1.1 million millionaires and 122 billionaires (India has 55 billionaires and 190000 millionaires) and has the fastest growing populations of millionaires. Between them they also host about 500 million poor people. This growing social disparity, if not reduced, will threaten their economic stability in coming years.

Social tensions:   China is facing strong undercurrents of social strains in the rural areas caused by the rampant tendency of local officials to grab land of farmers, not to mention the continuing unrest brewing for decades in Tibet and Xinjiang. These are sources of great worries to the Chinese leadership. India has its own share of serious internal disturbances in the form of violent activities unleashed by Maoists/Naxalites in 85 districts of 8 states, radical religious groups, insurgents in North east and Kashmir and cross-border terrorists.

         Inflation, unemployment and  health related problems caused by adulterated food-stuff, counterfeit drugs, contaminated water and polluted air, have added to the misery and wretched existence  of over 1 billion poor, lower-middle class , farmers and lowly-paid workers living in India and China . The bottom-line is that their economic success may have elevated them to the high table dominated by developed countries, yet both are still developing countries occupying very low ranks on Human Development Index (China at 101 and India at 136 out of 186 countries).   

             Two different countries, different people, different system of governments yet confronting similar problems. Same difference.

         How China and India manage their relationship may determine Asia's future. If they decide to live in harmony it will have a positive impact on nearly 37% of mankind. The unresolved border tangle is the main stumbling block in the improvement of their ties. Despite two agreements "Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the LAC (1993)" and "Confidence Building measures in the military field (1996)", the border remains tense. But Chinese are not in a hurry to settle this vexatious issue. They may continue to play cat and mouse game with India, at  least for a while, if not indefinitely. No wonder that even after 16 rounds of border talks there has been no breakthrough. There are a host of other problems relating to trade deficit, proposed dams on trans-border rivers, stapled visa etc. Chinese strategy of encircling India with a "string of pearls", and India's "arc of friendship" with South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar exacerbate the situation on both sides. China is unnerved by India's move, in furtherance to its 'Look East' policy, to enhance security and commercial engagements with Japan, and through an editorial (May 2013) in People's Daily (mouthpiece of ruling Chinese Communist party) has warned India to "be wary of petty Japanese burglars". India's belated efforts to upgrade its military and infra-structure capabilities along the 4057 km LAC (Line of Actual Control) is also disconcerting to China. Although China would not like India becoming tool of US and other countries to contain her but relishes a "Higher than Himalayas, deeper than the deepest sea  and sweeter than honey" all-weather friendship with India's unfriendly neighbour Pakistan. 

Because of their size the two Asian giants cannot over-power each other and full-scale conventional war between them is impossibility. So why not go for peace. Having been at the receiving end since 1962, India is the aggrieved party. China with three times higher GDP and military expenditure than India should be more understanding of India's concerns. Chinese have been promoting their language and culture by setting up Confucius Institute in several countries since 2004. They should remember what Confucius said "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire".      
          

In recent years their leaders have been reiterating that "there is enough space in the world for the development of both India and China". So charm offensive may not be missing on either side, but we need statesmen on both sides of the Himalayas who are capable to see the big picture and take bold decisions to resolve the disputed claims giving both countries more time and resources to tackle their pressing domestic problems.  Till then, President Xi Jinping's promise of "Chinese dream" to his people or India's benign aspiration of becoming a superpower by 2020 will remain in the realm of fantasy.