Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T15:23:04.964Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Place of International Law in Chinese Strategy and Tactics: The Case of the Sino-Indian Boundary Dispute

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Get access

Abstract

The Sino-Indian boundary dispute provides an interesting test case to determine the willingness of mainland China, a revolutionary regime, to argue its position within the framework of traditional international law. Judging by Peking's official rationale for its claims in that dispute, one must conclude that its leaders demonstrated an awareness of the law's uses and limitations, and a willingness to rely upon it as an important support for its position. Thus, though the issue was viewed as a political question, Peking chose to argue that the correct answers to it should rest upon such legal or quasilegal considerations as: (1) the boundary had never been delimited through a process recognized by international law and (2) Chinese claims to contested territory were based upon historical evidence such as administrative control and official records. At the same time, China's diplomate skillfully interspersed nonlegal theses, e.g., that India was seeking to gain by the imperialist activities of the British, and underlined all of their propositions with a show of military strength on her southern frontier.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 See: Hinton, Harold C., Communist China in World Politics (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966), chapters 11, 12, and 16.Google Scholar

2 For example, Rubin, Alfred P., “The Sino-Indian Border Disputes,” The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 9 (01 1960) pp. 96125CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Also, Green, L. C., “Legal Aspects of the Sino-Indian Border Dispute,” The China Quarterly, No. 3 (0709, 1960) pp. 4258.Google Scholar

3 The most important sources used in this paper are official publications of the two governments. Chinese documents are far less comprehensive than those published by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and include no relevant items not found in the Indian position papers. As a result, only Indian sources are cited; the interested reader may wish examine the following Peking items:

Documents on the Sino-Indian Boundary Question, Peking, 1960.Google Scholar

The Sino-Indian Boundary Question, Peking, 1962.Google Scholar

The Peking Review, Nos. 47 and 48, 11, 1962.Google Scholar

For a complete record of correspondence exchanged, see die following volumes published by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs:

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged and Agreements signed between the Governments of India and China, 1954–1059. (White Paper I, 1959).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, September–November. 1959, and a Note on the Historical Background of the Himalayan Frontier of India. (White Paper II, 1959).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, November 1959–March. 1960. (White Paper III, 1960).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, March 1960–November. 1960. (White Paper IV, 1960).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, November 1960–November. 1961. (White Paper V, 1961).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, November 1961–July. 1962. (White Paper VI, 1962).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged and Agreements signed between the Governments of India and China, July 1962–October. 1962. (White Paper VII, 1962).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, October 1962–January. 1963. (White Paper VIII, 1963).Google Scholar

Notes, Memoranda and Letters exchanged between the Governments of India and China, January 1963–July. 1963. (White Paper IX, 1963).Google Scholar

Hereafter, the citation will be: White Paper I, etc.

4 Text in White Paper I, pp. 98101.Google Scholar

5 Ibid, p. 98.

6 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 14 December 1958,” White Paper I, p. 48.Google Scholar

7 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 23 January 1959,” White Paper I, p. 53.Google Scholar

8 “Note given by the Counsellor of China in India to the Ministry of External Affairs, 17 July 1954,” White Paper I, p. 1.Google Scholar

9 “Note given to the Chinese Counsellor in India, 27 August 1954,” White Paper I, p. 3.Google Scholar

10 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 14 December 1958,” White Paper I, p. 49.Google Scholar

11 Ibid

12 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 23 January 1959,” White Paper I, p. 53.Google Scholar

13 “Note given by the Chinese Counsellor in India to the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, 11 July 1955,” White Paper I, p. 5.Google Scholar

14 “Note given to the Chinese Counsellor in India, 18 August 1955,” White Paper I, p. 7.Google Scholar

15 “Note given to the Chinese Counsellor in India, 5 November 1955,” White Paper I, p. 9.Google Scholar

16 “Note given to the Chinese Counsellor in India, 2 May 1956,” White Paper I, p. 11.Google Scholar

17 “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi to the Chinese Charge d'Affaires in India, 7 June 1956,” White Paper 1, p. 12.Google Scholar

18 “Note given by the Chinese Foreign Office to the Counsellor of India, 8 June 1956,” White Paper I, p. 13.Google Scholar

19 “Informal Note given by the Foreign Secretary to the Chinese Ambassador, 18 October 1958,” White Paper I, p. 26.Google Scholar

20 “Aide memoire given to the Chinese Charge d'Affaires in India, 24 September 1956,” White Paper I, p. 18.Google Scholar

21 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 14 December 1958,” White Paper I, p. 48.Google Scholar

22 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 23 January 1959,” White Paper I, p. 53.Google Scholar

23 “Note Verbale handed by the Ministry of External Affairs to the Chinese Counsellor in India, July 1958, White Paper I, p. 22.Google Scholar

24 “Note handed by the Chinese Counsellor in India to the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, 2 August 1958,” White Paper I, p. 23.Google Scholar

25 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 14 December 1958,” White Paper I, pp. 4851.Google Scholar

26 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 23 January 1959,” White Paper I, pp. 5254.Google Scholar

27 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 22 March 1959,” White Paper I, pp. 5557.Google Scholar

28 Ibid, p. 55.

29 “Note given by the Foreign Office of China to the Indian Counsellor in Peking, 23 June 1959,” White Paper I, p. 34.Google Scholar

30 See correspondence in White Paper I, pp. 3446Google Scholar and White Paper II, pp. 111.Google Scholar

31 See: White Paper II, pp. 1326Google Scholar, and White Paper III, pp. 144.Google Scholar

32 “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 4 November 1959,” White Paper II, pp. 1927.Google Scholar

33 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 8 September 1959,” White Paper II, pp. 2734.Google Scholar

34 Ibid, p. 27.

35 Ibid

36 Ibid, pp. 30–31.

37 Ibid, p. 30.

38 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 26 September 1959,” White Paper II, pp. 3453.Google Scholar

39 Ibid, pp. 45–6.

40 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 7 November 1959,” White Paper III, pp. 4445.Google Scholar

41 Ibid

42 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 16 November 1959,” White Paper III, pp. 4650.Google Scholar

43 Ibid, p. 49.

44 “Letter from the Prime Minister of China to the Prime Minister of India, 17 December 1959,” White Paper III, pp. 5155.Google Scholar

45 Ibid, p. 53.

46 Ibid, p. 55.

47 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 21 December 1959,” While Paper III, p. 56.Google Scholar

48 “Letter from the Prime Minister of India to the Prime Minister of China, 5 February 1960,” White Paper III, pp. 8081.Google Scholar

49 “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China to the Embassy of India in China, 26 December 1959,” White Paper III, pp. 5879.Google Scholar

50 Ibid, p. 59.

51 Ibid, p. 64.

52 Ibid, p. 66.

53 Ibid, pp. 68–69.

54 Ibid, pp. 70–71.

55 “Note of the Government of India to the Chinese Government, 12 February 1960,” White Paper III, pp. 8295.Google Scholar

56 Ibid, p. 82.

57 Ibid, p. 83.

58 See, for example, “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, to the Embassy of India Ques in China, 1 March 1962,” White Paper VI, p. 16Google Scholar: “Although the talks with Prime Minister Nehru in April … failed to produce desired results …”

59 India, Ministry of External Affairs, Report of the Officials of the Government of India and the People's Republic of China on the Boundary Question. New Delhi, 1961, p. 1Google Scholar of the Indian statement.

60 Ibid, p. 12 of the Chinese statement.

61 Ibid, pp. 14, 15, and 18.

62 Ibid, p. 25.

63 Ibid, p. 31.

64 Ibid, p. 32.

65 Ibid, pp. 33, 35, 45, and 46.

66 Ibid, pp. 40 and 48.

67 Report of the Officials … pp. 91103.Google Scholar

68 Ibid, p. 111.

89 Ibid, pp. 115–119.

70 Ibid, p. 127.

71 Ibid, p. 103.

72 “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 9 December 1961.” White Paper VI, p. 9.Google Scholar

73 “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, to the Embassy of India in China, 22 March 1962,” White Paper VI, p. 24.Google Scholar

74 See correspondence in White Paper VI, pp. 193.Google Scholar

75 “Note given by the Embassy of India in China to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, 30 December 1960,” While Paper V, p. 20.Google Scholar

76 “Memorandum given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking to the Embassy of India in China, 21 February 1961,” While Paper V, pp. 2122.Google Scholar

77 “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 21 February 1961,” White Paper V, pp. 2829.Google Scholar

78 See: “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, to the Embassy of India in China, 4 May 1961,” White Paper V, p. 25Google Scholar; also, “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, to the Embassy of India in China, 20 November 1961,” White Paper VI, pp. 9596Google Scholar; and “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 31 May 1962,” White Paper VI, p. 98.Google Scholar

79 “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, fairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, dia, 16 June 1961,” White Paper V, p. 32.Google Scholar

80 Cited in: “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 10 May 1962,” White Paper VI, p. 96.Google Scholar

81 Ibid

82 “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, to the Embassy of India in China, 31 May, 1962,” White Paper VI, p. 99.Google Scholar

83 Ibid, p. 101.

84 “Note given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peking, to the Embassy of India in China, 3 December 1961,” White Paper VI, p. 188.Google Scholar

85 “Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi to the Embassy of China in India, 15 December 1961,” White Paper VI, p. 190.Google Scholar

86 See: White Paper VI, pp. 188222Google Scholar, and White Paper VII, pp. 170174.Google Scholar