NEW DELHI, Oct 28: China on Thursday assured India that its new land border law would not affect the implementation of the existing border treaties. It also urged all countries having common land border with China, including India, to “avoid undue speculations about a normal legislation.”
China’s national legislature — the National People’s Congress (NPC) — on October 23 adopted the new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas which drew sharp reaction from India as it was passed amid the protracted military standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh region.
India had hit out at China on Wednesday for the new law and had cautioned that India expected China to avoid taking any action under the “pretext of the new law which could unilaterally alter the situation in the border areas.
The External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had described China’s decision to bring out the law as a matter of “concern” as it can have implications on the existing bilateral pacts on the management of the border and the overall boundary question.
“China’s unilateral decision to bring about a legislation which can have implication on our existing bilateral arrangements on border management as well as on the boundary question is of concern to us,” he said.
“Such unilateral move will have no bearing on the arrangements that both sides have already reached earlier, whether it is on the boundary question or for maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the Indo-China border,” he had said.
Responding to questions on the Land Border Law, Bagchi’s Chinese counterpart Wang Wenbin on Thursday said, “it is a normal domestic legislation that serves our realistic needs and also confirms to international practice.”
“This law has clear stipulations on China’s cooperation with its neighbouring countries and the handling of the land border issues,” he said at a regular foreign ministry briefing in Beijing.
In an apparent response to India’s concerns, Wang said, “it will not affect China’s implementation of existing border treaties nor will it change existing practice in our cooperation with neighbouring countries.” “It does not mean that there is a change in our position on the border development issue,” he said.
To a specific question about India’s criticism of the law, Wang said, “I just briefed you on the considerations behind the law. We hope relevant countries can avoid making undue speculation about the normal legislation in China.” Earlier, elaborating on the provisions of the new law adopted by the NPC last week, Wang said President Xi Jinping signed a decree No. 99 on the same day announcing that the law will come into effect from January 1, 2022.
“The Article 62 of the law identifies the leading mechanism and duties of departments of military and localities in implementing the law. It sets the rules for the demarcation procedures and also covers the areas of defence and management of borders as far as international cooperation,” he said.
“China has 22,000 kms of land borders. It has 14 land neighbours. The promulgation of the law is to coordinate and have unified standards for strengthening border management and advance relevant cooperation,” he said.
“This is an important measure in advancing the rule of law. It is a normal domestic legislation that serves our realistic needs and also confirms to international practice,” Wang said.
India and Bhutan are the two countries with which China is yet to finalise the border agreements, while Beijing resolved the boundary disputes with 12 other neighbours. While India-China border disputes cover 3,488-km along the Line of Actual Control, the China-Bhutan dispute covers about 400 km.
India and China have already held over 20 rounds of border talks under the framework of the Special Representatives dialogue which was set up to find an early solution to the border dispute. Both sides have been maintaining that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
(Manas Dasgupta)
