The annual report released by the United States (US) Congressional Commission has said that the Chinese Communist government had possibly “preplanned the Galwan Valley clashes” in June this year, as reported by Swarajya.
On June 15 2019, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) mounted an ambush on the Indian Army at Galwan who had gone to verify Chinese withdrawal of posts as part of a disengagement measure.
This attack led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and as per reports, the Chinese PLA suffered 35 death. However, China to this day has not acknowledged the number of soldiers who died on June 15.
“The proximate cause of the clash appeared to be India’s construction of a strategic access road to support troops stationed along the LAC. China has also built extensive infrastructure along the LAC in recent years. In the aftermath of the clash, Beijing asserted sovereignty over the entire Galwan Valley, a new claim and significant change to the territorial status quo,” the report says.
On the possibility of China planning the Galwan clashes, the report says: “Some evidence suggested the Chinese government had planned the incident, potentially including the possibility for fatalities,”
The report also has sensitive satellite images that showed China had already built up large force levels, ‘potentially 1,000 PLA soldiers’ the week before the clashes.
Speaking of Beijing’s troubles with its other neighbours the reports said that “Beijing ramped up its multiyear coercion campaign against its neighbours, provoking military or paramilitary standoffs with countries from Japan to India and much of Southeast Asia.”
“Shortly after China’s defence minister urged Beijing to use military force to stabilise its periphery, a violent clash on the China-India border in June led to the first loss of life between the two countries since 1975”, the report added.