Amid LAC standoff, China announces new land border law to uphold 'territorial integrity'

Amid ongoing border tensions with India at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), China on Saturday adopted a new law which stipulates that "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People's Republic of China are sacred and inviolable." The legislature passed by members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) centres around the 'protection and exploitation' of the land border areas and will come into enforcement from January 1, 2022.

According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the law permits China to take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries as well as combat any act that undermines territorial sovereignty and land boundaries.

The new land border law permits the Chinese state to take measures to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas. It encourages the state to improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people's life and work there, and promote coordination between border defence and social, economic development in border areas, Xinhua said.

"The state shall, following the principle of equality, mutual trust and friendly consultation, handle land border-related affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues," it said.

India-China standoff at LAC

The land border law comes at a when the Indian Army and the PLA are in a standoff in eastern Ladakh. The India-China border disputes cover 3,488-km along the Line of Actual Control. Preparing for the winter haul, the Indian Army has enhanced the firepower with its Artillery deployments along the LAC deploying Bofors and M777 Ultra Light Howitzers, Artillery and Long Range Vectors in the Eastern sector. The Pinaka MRLS (Multi Rocket Launch System) and Smerch MBRL (Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers) have been adequately deployed in the Bumla sector in Arunachal Pradesh. 

On Thursday, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla remarked that peace and tranquillity in border areas is a "sine qua non" for India and China. "For this to materialise, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a sine qua non. He (Jaishankar) has also clearly articulated that development of our ties can only be based on mutuality -- mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests should guide this process," Shringla said.

"We hope that the Chinese side will work with us to bring a satisfactory resolution to the current issues so as to make progress on our bilateral relations keeping in view each other's sensitivities, aspirations and interests," the foreign secretary added.

Apart from India, China is also yet to finalise the border agreements with Bhutan. The China-Bhutan dispute covers about 400 km. On October 14, the two countries signed an MOU arriving at a three-step roadmap for expediting the boundary negotiations.

(With Agency Inputs)