Senate Bill Condemns Chinese Aggression Toward Indian Border State

Bill reaffirms that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India

An Indian Buddhist monk approaches the Thupten Gatsal Ling Gunpa, a branch of Tawang Monastery, in Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh, on October 11, 2009. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images)

A bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress earlier this month reaffirming Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India. The Indian state is claimed by China as part of Tibet.

The bill was introduced on Feb. 16 by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). It was co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). It comes in the wake of recent confrontations along the disputed border between the two giant Asian neighbors.

“This resolution makes clear that the United States views the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of the Republic of India—not the People’s Republic of China—and commits the U.S. to deepening support and assistance to the region, alongside like-minded international partners and donors,” Merkley said in a press release.

Merkley said that the U.S. position on Arunachal Pradesh is based on its support for freedom and rule-based order, while China is antagonistic to those concepts. The bill is a pushback against Chinese provocations in the area.

Part of Sinicization Campaign

Arunachal Pradesh is a Himalayan Indian territory, adjacent to Bhutan and on the border with Burma. It is an important seat of Tibetan Buddhism, home to many important monasteries—including some that were established hundreds of years ago. It shares over 700 miles of disputed border with Tibet, which is ruled by China as the Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 2006, a Chinese envoy stated that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh was a part of China. China shows the northeastern Indian state as Chinese territory on its maps. In 2017 and 2021 it even renamed places in the region, claiming that it has been a part of China since ancient times. The renaming drew a strong rejection from the Indian government.

The resolution introduced by Merkley and Hagerty condemned China’s construction of villages in contested areas between the two countries, and the publication of maps of Arunachal Pradesh with Mandarin-language names for cities. It also denounced the expansion of China’s territorial claims in Bhutan.

“At a time when China continues to pose grave and gathering threats to the free and open Indo-Pacific, it’s critical for the United States to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our strategic partners in the region—especially India,” said Hagerty.

The resolution commended the Indian government for defending itself against the aggression and security threats posed by the Chinese communist regime.

“This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognizing the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, condemning China’s military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, and further enhancing the U.S.–India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” said Hagerty.

In an earlier story, The Epoch Times reported that Chinese interest in Arunachal Pradesh is linked to a wider sinicization campaign targeting Tibetan Buddhism. It is specifically linked to China’s “reincarnation politics,” aimed at controlling the institutions of Tibetan Buddhism on the border, in locations that could be the birthplace of the next Dalai Lama.

Indian Army soldiers demonstrate positioning of a Bofors gun in Tawang, near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that separates Indian and Chinese territory, in India's Arunachal Pradesh state, on Oct. 20, 2021. (Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images)

Clear US Support for India

Dr. Satoru Nagao, a fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, told The Epoch Times that for a long time the United States did not show a clear stance on the territorial issues of other countries, but that its policy has changed slightly in recent years.

“For example, the U.S. expressed that the Japan–U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku islands of Japan. This means that the U.S. supports Japan’s stance,” said Nagao, who is based in Tokyo.

“Viewed from such a trend, the bill also tried to support India’s territorial claim against China. Despite it being a bill, the move [actually] represents the current U.S. mood toward China.”

India and the United States also conducted joint military training in northern India’s state of Uttarakhand, near the Himalayan border with China, two months ago.

The 18th Yudh Abhyas Exercises—“Yudh Abhyas” translates roughly as “war training”—promoted the exchange of “best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures between the armies of the two nations,” according to an Indian government statement. The annual, bilateral joint military exercises have been conducted since 2004.

Claude Arpi, author, historian, and expert on Tibet, told The Epoch Times that in today’s context of increased Chinese aggression on the border, the bill is of great significance.

“Though I feel that the joint exercises in Uttarakhand are far more important,” said Arpi.

The red pointer shows Tawang, on the border between India (Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, and China; where Indian and Chinese troops clashed in December 2022. (Google maps)

Indian Concerns About Senate Bill

Despite the good intentions behind the bill, certain Indian experts are concerned that it could end up hurting India. They say Arunachal Pradesh was always a part of India, and the bill could validate a dispute over a territory that was actually never contentious.

“Congress’s bill can give a false projection of a dispute which never existed in the first place and would give [the] CCP a pretense to raise an invalid claim again,” Col. (Ret.) Vinayak Bhat, a veteran Indian military intelligence officer, told The Epoch Times.

During the 1962 war between India and China, China captured almost half of Arunachal Pradesh, but then withdrew from the region. Opinions vary on why the Chinese withdrew: perhaps due to international pressure, perhaps because it would have been difficult to defend at the time.

The Tibetan government in exile, which is headquartered in India’s Dharamshala, has provided multiple statements asserting that Arunachal Pradesh was never a part of Tibet.

“China can’t even claim it,” Bhat said. “Indian people are thankful for the said bill. However, in trying to assist India with political support the U.S. Congress might be unwittingly helping the CCP to raise the issue of Arunachal Pradesh.”

Ninong Ering, a member of the Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly and a former minister in the Indian federal government, told The Epoch Times that since India’s independence from British colonial rule, the territory has been an integral part of India.

“Arunachal has always been a part of India,” Ering said. “There’s nothing to prove about that.”