China’s national legislature has adopted a new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas, which could have a bearing on Beijing’s border dispute with India.

Members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) approved the law at the closing meeting of a legislative session on October 23, according to a news report.

The law, which becomes operational from January 1 next year, stipulates that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China are sacred and inviolable”, it said.

Law adopted amid India-China standoff

• The new land border law was adopted amid the continued standoff between Indian and Chinese militaries in eastern Ladakh.

• India and Bhutan are the two countries with which China is yet to finalise the border agreements, while Beijing resolved the boundary disputes with 12 other neighbours.

• On October 14, China and Bhutan signed an MoU firming up a three-step roadmap for expediting the boundary negotiations, which Beijing said will make a meaningful contribution to speed up the border talks and establishment of diplomatic ties.

• While India-China border disputes cover 3,488-km along the Line of Actual Control, China-Bhutan dispute covers about 400 km.

• China in recent years has been strengthening the border infrastructure including the establishment of air, rail and road networks. It also launched a bullet train in Tibet which extends up to Nyingchi, the border town close to Arunachal Pradesh.

• Besides that, China also began constructing a number of villages close to the border with proper infrastructure in Tibet, another report said.

• Last week, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh have “seriously disturbed” the peace and tranquillity in border areas, and this has obviously had an impact on the broader relationship too.

• India has deployed upgraded L70 anti-aircraft guns in the high mountains along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh sector in addition to its existing M-777 howitzers and the Swedish Bofors guns. The deployment is aimed at boosting the Indian Army’s overall fire power in the face of China’s aggressive posturing following the eastern Ladakh standoff.

What are the key points of the new law?

• A significant aspect of the new law includes state support for the construction of border towns, improving their functioning and strengthening supporting capacity for the construction.

• It calls for the establishment of trade areas and border economic cooperation zones at the borders. It also calls for improving the ecological environment along the border besides epidemic control and maintaining flood and fire control.

Other points include:

• The state shall take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines territorial sovereignty and land boundaries.

• The state shall take measures to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas, 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.

• 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.

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