Why is China so aggressive on the Doklam standoff

India's action in Doklam has been strong and seems to have caught the Chinese by surprise.

The tensions between India and China have been high for more than a month now, with their armies locked in a standoff in the Doklam region at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction since June 16th.

Though it is not the first time that issues in various sectors of the nearly 3500 kilometer Line of Actual Control between the two countries have come up, the nature of and the speed at which, tensions, rose in this case and have shown no signs of abating, have made it a cause of concern.

The specifics of the latest dispute include accusations related to actions of both countries in the Doklam area, which is a disputed territory between China and Bhutan, and include attempts to construct a road in the area by the Chinese, which was stopped by Indian soldiers. In retaliation, they have been accused of destroying two bunkers of the Indian Army.

Even though significant time has passed since then, no positive change has taken place to ensure that the dispute does not turn into a conflict between the two Asian giants.

Instead, the Chinese administration seems to have taken a rigid and aggressive stand following the tune of the Chinese state media, which has been threatening India with dire consequences since the beginning of the standoff.

Reasons for such a policy could be seen through the internal politics China and its leader, India's standing and policy, and the volatile relationship between the two countries. India's retaliation this time has been strong and seems to have caught the Chinese by surprise

Xi Jinping and the politics in China

Later this year, China is to witness the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party India's retaliation this time has been strong and seems to have caught the Chinese by surprise where the new members of the all powerful Politburo Standing Committee are to be appointed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose is widely expected to get his second term following the event, would like to consolidate his power further by ensuring his choices replace 5 of the 7 members of the committee who are set to retire.

This makes it necessary for Xi to not have an image of having lost out or conceding to India. And a mutual and simultaneous retreat of troops of both sides from the standoff, as the Indian side has asked for, would be seen as such.

Such a point can be seen as the reason behind the insistence, of the Chinese administration and the state owned media, for India to withdraw its soldiers first for any chance of talks to take place between the two countries.

Also with the initial ramping up of emotions on the topic by the country's media, it would be hard for the Chinese government to back down, as it would result in a loss of face for the President.

Especially since it would harm Xi's overall vision of projecting himself as a bigger leader than Presidents of the recent past, and him being more in line with the likes of revered leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

It is this desire which can be seen behind him taking on his ambitious projects such as One Belt One Road initiative (OBOR), seen as a part of a modern day Silk Route, which would he hopes, make China the hub of trade in the world and cement his place in history.

It's all been building up

India took a tough stand on OBOR, as it refused to send representatives to a summit for it earlier this year or be a part of the project, as it claimed that parts of the project challenge its territorial sovereignty.

This was seen as tough stand by India given that most nations in the world including European powers, and the US, which had initially planned not to be represented eventually changing their stand.

This though was just one of the areas of recent disputes between the two. While India has spent enormous energy in trying to become a member of the coveted Nuclear Suppliers Group, it is China which has blocked its entry. On top of this, the Chinese have refuted India's demand to list Jaish-e-Muhammad's Chief Masood Azhar as a globally designated terrorist by the United Nations.

These are just a few example, while other issues such as China's continuous irritation on the issue of the Dalai Lama and India's concerns with China's support for Pakistan in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir have continued to build pressure on the fault lines of the relationship between the two.

Along with these, the presence of Bhutan, which is a neighbour of both India and China in the middle of this crisis has complicated the matters for both nations. Though India has justified its intervention in Doklam to honour its agreement with Bhutan to safeguard the kingdoms' sovereignty.

It is also in keeping with India's counter as it sees China's move in Doklam as a continuation of its 'string of pearls' policy by which Bejing has tried envelope it by having close ties with countries in the sub-continent using different methods.

This could be seen as a major reason for India to move in quickly and prove its resolve to back Bhutan in a territory claimed by it and not let Chinese force the kingdom into having closer ties.

Though such a policy has been implemented before by China, India's retaliation this time has been strong and seems to have caught the Chinese by surprise and added to extra aggressiveness from their side.

Media has added fuel to fire

The media in both countries, State owned in China and private in India, have been in overdrive mode to blame the other country and calling for tough action against it.

Last month, the Indian media was helped in its rhetoric by statements made by the Army Chief Bipin Rawat, who said the country was prepared for two and a half front war, referring to Pakistan and China, or Defence Minister Arun Jaitley reminding China that India is not the same as during the 1962 war, in which India suffered a loss. But the media has considerably calmed down on this front even though the conflict has remained the same, or even grown.

Chinese media, on the other hand, seems to have upped the ante as the tensions have increased. They have not only blamed India for the current dispute by calling its actions a challenge to China's territorial sovereignty but also launched personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, etc.

Such building up of pressure seems to have forced the administration's hand and to take a similar tone too. As for the first time one of its senior leader, Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, blamed India for triggering the ongoing standoff at Doklam and said that the issue would be resolved only once India withdrew its border troops. That too just two days ahead Doval's visit to China when talks to resolve the standoff are expected to be held.

It is not hard to imagine that such a behaviour of the Chinese media must not have helped whatever diplomatic channels might be working in the background to end the situation at the border till now.

This along with all the other points of fissures between the two seem to have forced China's hand to take an aggressive stand on the current standoff.

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