- Title: China warns India not to harbour illusions in border stand-off
- Date: 24th July 2017
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JULY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE STARTING MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE DEFENCE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN WU QIAN, SAYING: "We strongly call on India to immediately withdraw their frontier defence personnel from across the border. This is our pre-condition and basis for solving the current situation. The peace and stability (of the entire) region depends on the peace and stability of the border region and corresponds to the basic interests of the people of both countries." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE DEFENCE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN WU QIAN, SAYING: "Again, I want to remind India, don't leave things to luck and unrealistic illusions. The 90-year history of the PLA (People's Liberation Army) shows that its ability to protect China's territory has constantly strengthened and its resolve is immovable. Shaking a mountain is easy but shaking the PLA is hard." MEDIA NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING
- Embargoed: 7th August 2017 05:19
- Keywords: China India border stand-off
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Defence,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016R2T0ZP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: China's defence ministry on Monday (July 24) warned India not to harbour any illusions about the Chinese military's ability to defend its territory, amid a festering border dispute.
The stand-off on a plateau next to the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim, which borders China, has ratcheted up tension between the neighbours, who share a 3,500-km (2,175-mile) frontier, large parts of which are disputed.
"Shaking a mountain is easy but shaking the People's Liberation Army is hard," ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a briefing, adding that its ability to defend China's territory and sovereignty had "constantly strengthened". Early in June, according to the Chinese interpretation of events, Indian guards crossed into China's Donglang region and obstructed work on a road on the plateau.
The two sides' troops then confronted each other close to a valley controlled by China that separates India from its close ally, Bhutan, and gives China access to the so-called Chicken's Neck, a thin strip of land connecting India and its remote northeastern regions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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