[ForeignPolicy] China’s new airports and highways near the border have put officials on edge.
Update, Dec. 17, 2021: This story has been updated to provide additional satellite imagery of the Chinese military buildup near the Indian border.
Images are posted in a Twitter thread here.
The senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive policy deliberations, said that the buildup fits the pattern of Chinese regional aggression seen elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, such as in the Philippines, where Chinese coasties vessels moved to block Philippine supply boats in November. But there’s optimism among experts and officials that India will be able to stand its ground against the People’s Liberation Army. New Delhi has put up more diplomatic and military resistance than China’s antagonists in other territorial incursions, such as in the South China Sea, experts said. |