Subject: Phayul.com Article: Map missing link of PMs China visit<br/>
Date: Oct 09, 2003 @ 12:33<br/>
Author: orc@orcoast.com (orc@...)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-1314482393">good explanation<br/>
moe<br/>
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Map missing link of PM�s China visit<br/>
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Source : Hindustan Times<br/>
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By Pramit Pal Chaudhuri<br/>
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New Delhi, October 8 - In quietly releasing a website map showing Sikkim as part of India, Beijing has taken a step that flows logically from its agreement to open a border post on the China-Sikkim border. It also puts paid to criticism that Beijing pulled the silk over Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee�s eyes during his June visit to China.<br/>
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Indian diplomats who had been involved in previous border negotiations with Beijing are not surprised. &quot;There is always an unwritten part to such agreements,&quot; said one. And it makes sense. Why set up a border post with customs and immigration officials if you don&#39;t recognize the boundary?<br/>
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The map will lighten the air before border talks between Brajesh Mishra and Chinese Vice-Minister Dai Bingguo later this month. This formal dialogue is also a result of the June visit.<br/>
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Quietly letting slip a concession is not exclusive to China&#39;s dealings with India. In settling similar disputes with Vietnam and, most recently Kazakhstan, Beijing did the same thing. The bilateral agreement had an unwritten part in which China conceded a bit of land to the other side. The boundary was adjusted later on a map or similar document. In all such cases, it has been territory in the de facto control of the other party.<br/>
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Beijing plays with its maps before talks as well. Just before border negotiations with India a few years ago, China suddenly issued maps increasing the extent of its claims on Arunachal Pradesh. Indian negotiators knew this was not an error. This was a tactical move. &quot;The Chinese plan meticulously before such talks,&quot; said one official.<br/>
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Why does Beijing like to leave part of any border agreement for later? Some believe it is tied up with the Chinese need to save face. Others believe Beijing wants to minimize domestic reaction. Conceding territory is a tricky business even for a one-party government.<br/>
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As for the new Sikkim border, says Sinologist Mira Sinha-Bhattacharjee, &quot;I doubt you will find it on printed Government of China maps. That probably won&#39;t come about until a full border agreement with India. This was about indicating intent.&quot; The intent being, she believes, to formalise a tacit understanding that China would not stir up Sikkim so long as India did the same for Tibet.<br/>
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The tweaking of the wording on Tibet in the June joint statement and Beijing&#39;s acceptance of Sikkim&#39;s accession fits in nicely with this view.<br/>
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