On June 24, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian explained in details about what had happened on China-India west border during the Ministry’s Regular Press Conference:
Recently the incident in the Galwan Valley in the western sector of the China-India border has received much attention. I already went through the ins and outs of the whole incident on June 19. The merits of what happened are very clear. None of the responsibility lies with China.
First, it is the Indian border troops who crossed the line first. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the western sector of the boundary is clear. The Galwan Valley lies on the Chinese side of the LAC. The Chinese border troops, who have all along been patrolling the area, know very well the situation of management and control on the ground. Since April this year, the Indian side has been building roads and bridges at and across the LAC in the Galwan Valley, unilaterally changing the status quo. China has lodged representations on multiple occasions. On the early morning of May 6, Indian border troops crossed the LAC under the cover of night, trespassed into China’s territory and deliberately made provocations. The Chinese border troops were compelled to take necessary measures to respond to the situation on the ground and strengthen management and control along the border.
Second, it is the Indian side that violated bilateral consensus and started provocations first. In the presence of China’s diplomatic representations and military pressure, India originally agreed to withdraw its personnel who crossed the LAC and dismantled the facilities it built across the LAC as China demanded. In the first round of commander-level talks on June 6, the Indian side promised that it would not cross the river mouth of the Galwan river to patrol and build facilities. The two sides also agreed to build observation posts on either side of the Galwan river mouth. However, the Indian side later reneged on the consensus, wantonly demanded that China dismantle its observation post, and once again crossed the line for provocations, which triggered the conflict.
Third, it is the India side that violated international rules and attacked the Chinese side first.On the night of June 15, Indian frontline troops breached the agreement of the commander-level talks, once again crossed the LAC, and demolished the tents built by the Chinese side. When the Chinese army officers and soldiers came to negotiate as per customary practices on handling border-related issues, the Indian troops attacked them in an abrupt and violent manner, which led to fierce physical confrontations and casualties. The adventurous acts of the Indian army seriously violated the agreements reached between the two countries on the border issue, and breached the basic norms governing international relations. The acts of the Indian army are of a vile nature and have severe consequences.
As agreed by the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers during their phone call on June 17, both sides agreed to handle in a just manner the serious situation caused by the Galwan Valley clash, observe the agreement reached during the commander-level talks, cool down the situation on the ground as soon as possible, and uphold peace and tranquility of the border areas in accordance with bilateral agreements reached so far. From June 22 to 23, the two sides held the second round of commander-level talks and agreed to jointly take necessary measures for de-escalation, and work together for the peace and tranquility in the border areas. We hope the Indian side can strictly observe and implement the above-mentioned consensus, meet China halfway and take real actions to restore peace and stability in the border areas.
