Report: China Bars 3 Indian Athletes From Asian Games

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Facts

  • On Thursday, China reportedly denied entry to three Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh — a northeastern state in India, much of which Beijing claims as its own — for the Hangzhou Asian Games.1
  • India alleges that while other wushu players — a type of martial arts — could download their travel documents, the trio from the disputed territory couldn't. In protest, India's Sports Minister canceled his scheduled visit to China on Friday.2
  • Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Asia's Ethics Committee claims that China did issue visas to the players and that the issue was with the athletes not accepting them.2
  • While New Delhi claimed Arunachal Pradesh 'was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,' the Chinese foreign ministry stated, 'The Chinese government has never recognized so-called 'Arunachal.' The area of Zangnan is Chinese territory.'3
  • In July, the same players couldn't attend the World University Games as they were issued stapled visas — which indicates that Beijing doesn't acknowledge India's claim over Arunachal Pradesh.4
  • China has long disputed India's sovereignty over multiple states, including Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls South Tibet, with tensions rising earlier this year when China released a new map that renamed 11 places in the region.5

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Hindustan times, 3Nikkei asia, 4Independent and 5BBC News.

Narratives

  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by Independent. China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh is among its many maritime and land disputes in Asia. The communist nation has sought to keep India off-balance by frequently needling it over its northeast and northernmost regions. It has reportedly even raised entire villages in disputed territories unilaterally. Such unfettered irredentism is dangerous for a region brimming with nuclear powers.
  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global times. The McMahon Line, which demarcates the India-China border along Arunachal Pradesh, was drawn by the colonial British administration without the consent of the Chinese. Since Tibet is now an integral part of China and Arunachal Pradesh has long been culturally associated with Tibet, India can't claim sovereignty over the territory based on an old British whim.

Predictions