Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed, his country has “not
provoked a conflict or war, or occupied a single inch of foreign land”, on
Thursday (local time).
Xi’s remarks came at a dinner on the sidelines of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, hours after his highly
anticipated talks with US President Joe Biden, where both leaders pledged to
reduce tensions as they met for the first time in a year.
Xi’s comments at the event organised by the US-China
Business Council and National Committee on US-China Relations were being
closely watched, given worries about China’s tighter business oversight and
bilateral tensions.
Xi further claimed, “Throughout the 70 years and more
since the founding of the People’s Republic, China has not provoked a conflict
or war, or occupied a single inch of foreign land.”
During the meeting, Biden raised concerns over China’s
human rights abuses, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
“President Biden underscored the universality of human
rights and the responsibility of all nations to respect their international
human rights commitments. He raised concerns regarding PRC human rights abuses,
including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong,” according to the White House
readout.
Notably, in 2020, the Indian and Chinese troops
clashed at Galwan, the same year the pandemic started.
Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to
aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have
been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a
friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash.
Over 50,000 Indian soldiers have been stationed since
2020 at forward posts along the LAC, with advanced weapons to prevent any
attempts to change the status quo unilaterally on the LAC.
ANI
