RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 1

RAJ MALHOTRA’S IAS ACADEMY, CHANDIGARH

PRELIMS BOOSTER 2
Aarogyasetu 2
Nuakhai Juhar 2
Saudi Arabia-Pakistan relations 2
Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana 4
Thumbimahotsavam 4
Kariye Museum 5
MCQs 5
EDITORIAL SIMPLIFIED 7
Moving resolutely towards the post-pandemic future 7
One-China Policy 9
RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 2

PRELIMS BOOSTER
Aarogyasetu
Aarogyasetu team has worked on a new innovative feature which is called ‘Open API Service’. In
order to help businesses and economy to start functioning while being safe, the Open API Service
enables organisations to check the status of Aarogya Setu and integrate it into its various
Work from Home features. The Open API Service of Aarogya Setu, addresses the fear/risk of
Covid-19 infections and help the people, businesses and the economy to return to normalcy.

What is ‘Aarogyasetu’?
The App, called ‘AarogyaSetu’ joins Digital India for the health and well-being of every Indian. It
enables people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the Corona Virus infection. It
calculates the risk of infection based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth
technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.

• How does it work?


Once installed in a smart phone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects
other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone.

• The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of
these contacts is tested positive.

What is ‘Open API Service’?

• The Open API Service of Aarogya Setu, can be availed by organisations and business
entities, who are registered in India with more than 50 employees, and they can use the
Open API Service to query the Aarogya Setu Application in real-time and get the health status of
their employees or any other Aarogya Setu User, who have provided their consent for sharing
their health status with the organisation.

• The Open API shall only provide the Aarogya Setu status and name of the Aarogya Setu User
(with User's consent). No other personal data shall be provided through the API.

Nuakhai Juhar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai
Juhar.

What is ‘Nuakhai Juhar’?

• It an important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in
Jharkhand.

• It is an agricultural festival which is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. The
word nua means new and khai means food.

• It is observed on the fifth day of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra
(August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

• Nuakhai is understood to have nine colours and as a consequence nine sets of rituals are
followed as a prelude to the actual day of celebration.

• People offer the newly harvested crop called Nabanha to their respective presiding deities. After
offering the Nabanha, people relish different types of delicacies prepared from the newly
harvested crop.

Saudi Arabia-Pakistan relations

The rift between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia over Jammu and Kashmir is out in the open. A
delegation led by Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Saudi Arabia, but were
denied a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

Saudi-Pakistan ties -
RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 3
• The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was most prominent during the 1971
war between India and Pakistan. According to reports of that time, Saudi Arabia had
denounced the Indian action as “treacherous and contrary to all international covenants and
human values” and found no justification for the Indian aggression except “India’s desire to
dismember Pakistan and tarnish its Islamic creed”.

• Saudi Arabia is also reported to have transferred arms and equipment including the loan
of some 75 aircraft to Pakistan. After the war, Saudi Arabia consistently supported the call for
the return of Pakistan’s prisoners of war and for dropping the Dacca (Dhaka) Trial against 195 of
them.

• After the war, Saudi Arabia gave loans to Pakistan enabling it to buy arms worth about $1
million by 1977, including F-16s and Harpoon missiles from the US. Saudi oil and dollars
have kept Pakistan’s economy on its feet after sanctions following the nuclear tests. Over the
last two decades, Saudi Arabia has provided oil on deferred payments to Pakistan whenever it
ran into economic difficulty.

• Saudi funding of madrasas have also led to their mushrooming, later giving rise to religious
extremism. In 1990, Pakistan sent its ground forces to defend Saudi Arabia against Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait.

Alignment over Kashmir -

• The alignment over Kashmir at the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) crystallised since
1990, when insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir began. While the OIC has issued statements
over the last three decades, it became a ritual of little significance to India.

• Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for its
condemnation of India’s move. To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE issued
statements that were nuanced rather than harshly critical of New Delhi.
• Over the last one year, Pakistan has tried to rouse the sentiments among the Islamic countries,
but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticised India.

The Saudi perspective -

• Saudi Arabia’s change in position has been a gradual process under Crown Prince MBS. As
it seeks to diversify from its heavily oil-dependent economy, it sees India as a valuable
partner in the region.

• New Delhi, for its part, has wooed the Arab world over the last six years. From Saudi Arabia to
the UAE, it worked the diplomatic levers through high-level visits and dangled opportunities for
investment and business

• MBS, who is looking to invest in India, has taken a realistic view, along with UAE’s crown prince
Mohammed bin Zayed. Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner (after China, US
and Japan) and a major source of energy: India imports around 18% of its crude oil
requirement from the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia is also a major source of LPG for India.

• And, with India stopping oil imports from Iran due to threat of US sanctions, Saudi Arabia is key
in this respect as well.

Saudi-Pakistan tensions -
• In 2015, Pakistan’s Parliament decided not to support the Saudi military effort to restore an
internationally recognised government in Yemen.

• Later, Pakistan’s then Army chief General Raheel Sharif led the Saudi-led Islamic Military
Alliance to Fight Terrorism, comprising 41 Muslim countries.

• In February 2019, after the Pulwama terror attack, it was Saudi Arabia and the UAE that pulled
their weight to get Wing Commander Abhinandan released, apart from the US.

• The Saudi Crown Prince visited Pakistan and India at that time, and made it clear that he
valued economic opportunities. He did not wade into the Kashmir issue in India, or the terrorism
issue in Pakistan.

• A year after Article 370 was revoked Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Qureshi accused that
Saudi Arabia has failed to deliver on the Kashmir cause was an indication of Islamabad —
and Rawalpindi’s — frustration that OIC had not played a leadership role in backing Pakistan
against India.

• This angered Saudi Arabia, which in November 2018 had announced a $6.2 billion loan package
for Pakistan. The package included of $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to
RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 4
$3.2 billion. Riyadh demanded the return of the $3 billion loan and refused to sell oil to
Islamabad on deferred payment. Pakistan immediately returned $1 billion, displaying the rift.

• But, in the current economic situation, Pakistan is unable to pay the next tranche. Gen Bajwa
went to Riyadh in a patch-up exercise, but MBS refused to meet him.

• What has also angered Saudi Arabia is that Pakistan has been trying to pander to Turkey and
Malaysia. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen as trying to position himself as the
new leader of Muslim world, challenging Saudi Arabia’s long-held position.

Implications for India -

• India, which is closely watching the developments between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, has not
said anything publicly. But, Saudi’s silence on J&K as well as CAA-NRC has emboldened the
Indian government.

• Both New Delhi and Riyadh see value in their relationship. At a time when India and China
are locked in a border standoff, India would be wary of Pakistan and China teaming up. But
with Saudi Arabia in its corner for now, it may have a leverage over Pakistan — Riyadh
would not want a conflict and regional instability.

• What is key to India’s calculus is that the Pakistan-China and the Pakistan-Saudi axes are
not fused together at the moment: It is not a Saudi-Pakistan-China triangle. How New Delhi
leverages that may decide the future of the region.

Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana

The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has decided to relax the eligibility criteria and
enhancement in the payment of unemployment benefit under Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana.

What is Atal Bimit Vykati Kalyan Yojana?

• ESIC is implementing the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyna Yojna under which unemployment benefit is
paid to the workers covered under ESI Scheme. The ESI Corporation has decided to extend
the scheme for one more year upto 30th June 2021.

• It has been decided to relax the existing conditions and the amount of relief for workers who
have lost employment during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The enhanced relief under the
relaxed conditions will be payable during the period of 24.03.2020 to 31st December 2020.

• Thereafter the scheme will be available with original eligibility condition during the period
01.01.2021 to 30.06.2021. Review of these conditions will be done after 31.12.2020 depending
upon the need and demand for such relaxed condition.

Proposed changes -
Eligibility criteria for availing the relief has been relaxed, as under:

• The payment of relief has been enhanced to 50% of average of wages from earlier 25% of
average wages payable upto maximum 90 days of unemployment.

• Instead of the relief becoming payable 90 days after unemployment, it shall become due for
payment after 30 days.

• The Insured Person can submit the claim directly to ESIC Branch Office instead of the claim
being forwarded by the last employer and the payment shall be made directly in the bank
account of IP.

• The Insured Person should have been insurable employment for a minimum period of 2 years
before his/her unemployment and should have contributed for not less than 78 days in the
contribution period immediately preceding to unemployment and minimum 78 days in one of the
remaining 3 contribution periods in 2 years prior to unemployment.

Thumbimahotsavam
The WWF-India Kerala unit has joined hands with the Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) and
Thumbipuranam for the first-ever State Dragonfly Festival in Kerala, named
Thumbimahotsavam 2020. ‘Pantalu’ is the official mascot for the festival.

National Dragonfly Festival -

RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 5
• The events are a part of a national dragonfly festival being organised by the WWF India,
Bombay Natural History Society and the Indian Dragonfly Society in association with the
National Biodiversity Board, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations
Development Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

• It started in the year 2018 to educate and inform the public about the integral role that
dragonflies, and their lesser known siblings damselflies, play in our environment.

About World Wide Fund for Nature -

• It was founded on 29th April 1961. Its precursor organisation was the Conservation Foundation.
Its original name was World Wildlife Fund.

• It is located in Gland, Switzerland.

• WWF aims to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on
Earth.

• WWF works in the areas of climate, food, forests, fresh water, oceans and wildlife primarily.
• It runs several projects in various fields in partnership with people, bodies and governments
worldwide.

• In species conservation, they focus on tigers, elephants, gorillas, giant pandas, sea turtles,
polar bears, rhinos and whales.

• Campaigns launched by WWF include Earth Hour and Debt-for-Nature Swap.

• The famous ‘Living Planet Report’ (started in 1998) is published by the WWF every two year in
which the health of the planet and the impact of human activities on nature are talked about. It
is based on the Living Planet Index and the calculations of ecological footprints.

Kariye Museum
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered another ancient Orthodox church that
became a mosque and then a popular Istanbul museum to be turned back into a place of Muslim
worship.

Details -
• The 1,000-year-old building’s history closely mirrors that of the Hagia Sophia — its bigger
neighbour on the historic western bank of the Golden Horn estuary on the European side of
Istanbul.

• The Holy Saviour in Chora was a medieval Byzantine church decorated with 14th century
frescoes of the Last Judgment that remain treasured in the Christian world.

• It was originally converted into the Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453 conquest of
Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks.

• It became the Kariye Museum after Second World War as Turkey pushed ahead with the
creation of a more secular new republic out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

• A group of American art historians then helped restore the original church’s mosaics and
opened them up for public display in 1958.

• But Mr. Erdogan is placing an ever greater political emphasis on the battles that resulted in the
defeat of Byzantium by the Ottomans.

Implications -
• The decision to transform the Kariye Museum into a mosque came just a month after a similarly
controversial conversion for the UNESCO World Heritage-recognised Hagia Sophia.

• Both changes reflect Mr. Erdogan’s efforts to galvanise his more conservative and nationalist
supporters at a time when Turkey is suffering a new spell of inflation and economic uncertainty
caused by the virus.

MCQs
1. ’Kariye Museum’ is located in -
A. Maharashtra

B. Jharkhand

C. Odisha

RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 6

D. None of the above

Answer - D

Explanation - It is located in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered another
ancient Orthodox church that became a mosque and then a popular Istanbul museum to be
turned back into a place of Muslim worship. The 1,000-year-old building’s history closely mirrors
that of the Hagia Sophia — its bigger neighbour on the historic western bank of the Golden Horn
estuary on the European side of Istanbul. The Holy Saviour in Chora was a medieval Byzantine
church decorated with 14th century frescoes of the Last Judgment that remain treasured in the
Christian world. It was originally converted into the Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453
conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks. It became the Kariye Museum after
Second World War as Turkey pushed ahead with the creation of a more secular new republic out
of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

2. Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct about ‘World Wide Fund for Nature’?
1. It works in the areas of climate, food, forests, fresh water, oceans and wildlife primarily.

2. It is located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

3. ‘Living Planet Report’ is an annual publication of WWF.

Select the correct codes from below -

A. 1 only

B. 1 and 2 only

C. 1 and 3 only

D. All of the above

Answer - A

Explanation - Wildlife Institute of India is located in Dehradun, not WWF. WWF was founded on
29th April 1961. Its precursor organisation was the Conservation Foundation. Its original name
was World Wildlife Fund. It is located in Gland, Switzerland. WWF aims to conserve nature and
reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth. WWF works in the areas of
climate, food, forests, fresh water, oceans and wildlife primarily. It runs several projects in
various fields in partnership with people, bodies and governments worldwide. In species
conservation, they focus on tigers, elephants, gorillas, giant pandas, sea turtles, polar bears,
rhinos and whales. Campaigns launched by WWF include Earth Hour and Debt-for-Nature
Swap. The famous ‘Living Planet Report’ (started in 1998) is published by the WWF every two
year in which the health of the planet and the impact of human activities on nature are talked
about. It is based on the Living Planet Index and the calculations of ecological footprints.

3. Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct about ‘Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana’?
1. It aims to provide unemployment benefits to a specified group of workers as mentioned in the
scheme.

2. The scheme has been launched by the Government of Gujarat in the year 2018 to give relief to
unorganised workers employed under state government infrastructure contracts.

Select the correct codes from below -

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer - A

Explanation - Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) of India is implementing the Atal
Bimit Vyakti Kalyna Yojna under which unemployment benefit is paid to the workers covered
under ESI Scheme. Recently, it has been decided to relax the existing conditions and the amount
of relief for workers who have lost employment during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 7

4. Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct about ‘Nuakhai Juhar’?

1. It is also known as ‘Yahoodi New Year’ in India as celebrated by the jewish community in Goa
and Kerala.

2. It is an agricultural festival which is observed to welcome the new rice of the season.

Select the correct codes from below -

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer - B

Explanation - Nuakhai Juhar is an important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining
areas of Simdega in Jharkhand. It is an agricultural festival which is observed to welcome the
new rice of the season. The word nua means new and khai means food. It is observed on the
fifth day of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September),
the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Nuakhai is understood to have nine colours and as a
consequence nine sets of rituals are followed as a prelude to the actual day of celebration. People
offer the newly harvested crop called Nabanha to their respective presiding deities. After offering
the Nabanha, people relish different types of delicacies prepared from the newly harvested crop.

5. Thumbimahotsavam 2020 is a celebration of -

A. Annual rice-harvest festival in Deccan India

B. First-ever state prayer ceremony in Padmanabhaswamy Temple by Travancore royal family

after recent court verdict.

C. First-ever state dragonfly festival in Kerala.

D. None of the above

Answer - C

Explanation - The WWF-India Kerala unit has joined hands with the Society for Odonate Studies
(SOS) and Thumbipuranam for the first-ever State Dragonfly Festival in Kerala, named
Thumbimahotsavam 2020. ‘Pantalu’ is the official mascot for the festival.

EDITORIAL SIMPLIFIED
Moving resolutely towards the post-pandemic future
The pandemic began spreading around the world just a few months ago. Yet, it has plunged the
global economy into its deepest economic contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Trillions of dollars of economic output have been wiped out, most countries will take years to
return to pre-coronavirus levels, and billions of people are confronting a shrunken future. 

Response from India -

• India has avoided this fate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken a series of decisive,
calibrated actions which include: implementing a rapid lockdown to save lives; providing
abundant relief to protect livelihoods; and, simultaneously positioning the economy for
strong revival through the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ policy package.

• The national lockdown dramatically dampened the disease’s exponential growth rate and
gave the country time to prepare. Without a lockdown, the cases of coronavirus would today
be several times higher than now. More importantly, coronavirus fatalities would have been
even higher since the case fatality rate has declined dramatically in the past few months.

Why lockdown was essential?

RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 8
• During the lockdown, the nation got ready to face the pandemic. Every citizen learned the
value of masks and mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing. Hospital beds,
intensive care units, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, personal protective equipment kits, and
N95 masks were procured in vast quantities and supplied to every district.

• COVID-19 care and quarantine centres were established in every block. Testing capacity
increased from thousands per day to almost a million per day. Testing labs are now available in
80-90% of all districts. Extraordinary medical advances have also happened in the past few
months: several drugs have proven to be efficacious, treatment protocols are now widely
available, and many vaccine candidates are now in the final stages of testing. The national
lockdown has thus saved lakhs of lives.

Socio-economic measures -
• Soon after the lockdown was announced, the Prime Minister announced the Pradhan Mantri
Garib Kalyan Yojana — a massive relief package for the needy. Through this programme,
around 80 crore fellow citizens are being provided rations through the Public Distribution
System. This has saved them money and put cash in their pockets.

• Over 20 crore Jan Dhan women account holders have received ₹30,654 crore directly into
their bank accounts. Around 2.3 crore construction workers have got ₹4,313 crore, while 2.8
crore beneficiaries in the National Social Assistance Programme have received ₹2,815 crore.

• The rural economy, which supports 60-70% of India’s population and accounts for 46% of GDP,
is surging. The excellent rabi harvest has resulted in over ₹75,000 crore in farmer payments by
the government. Almost 10 crore farmers have received ₹40,000 crore as income support
through the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. Over 4 crore households are benefiting from the
expanded Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act scheme.

• Thus the rural economy has received over ₹2 lakh crore of cash directly into beneficiary
accounts just from the Central government. State governments have run their own relief
programmes as well. These massive cash payments have driven rural confidence, with
consumer goods, motorcycle, and tractor purchases at or above pre-pandemic levels now.

Economic policy support -

• Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and large corporates have also been provided
substantial relief through coordinated action between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the
government.

• Compliance filings and tax payments were extended by several months. Borrowers received a
loan moratorium of six months. Moreover, the RBI has cut rates by 115bps and pumped in
more than ₹9 lakh crore in liquidity into the financial system; ₹3 lakh crore have been made
available as guaranteed collateral-free loans for MSME borrowers. with close to half of that
being sanctioned already.

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Small Industries Development Bank
of India, National Housing Bank, and Non-banking financial companies have all been provided
refinancing facilities. The RBI has undertaken vast long-term repo operations to bring down
the yield curve. As a result of all these policy actions, credit markets have stabilised, credit is
available, and spreads have come down to normal levels.

• With the loan moratorium coming to an end on August 31, the RBI has now announced a one-
time restructuring scheme to provide relief to stressed sectors. Borrowers will be able to
restructure their loans to match their cash flows, thereby protecting their businesses and jobs.
The net result of these relief actions has been to prevent widespread business failures and
job losses, which would have resulted in permanent damage to the Indian economy.

Key reforms -
• After these relief measures were rolled out, the government introduced the Atmanirbhar Bharat
revival package. The Prime Minister has launched bold policy reforms in agriculture,
defence production, electronics manufacturing, coal mining, and the public sector. These
reforms position India for the future and generate confidence among business people and
investors.

• The agriculture sector has seen the most transformational changes. Through a series of
ordinances, price controls have largely been removed in agriculture, farmers can now sell
RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 9
their crops to anyone anywhere, and contract farming has been allowed. Kisan credit cards
are being provided to all fishermen, dairy farmers, and other agriculturists. An additional ₹1
lakh crore has been earmarked to build rural infrastructure such as storage depots,
refrigerated warehouses, and other post-harvest facilities. Animal husbandry has been
sanctioned another ₹15,000 crore.

• Defence production is being indigenised with 101 items meant only for domestic production.
This will likely generate over ₹4 lakh crore of revenues for domestic defence producers in the
next few years. Defence foreign direct investment of 74% is now allowed through the
automatic route.

• Similarly, the government has completely opened up coal mining to the private sector to
ensure that imported coal worth over ₹1 lakh crore is replaced with domestic coal. Finally, in yet
another historic decision, the government has declared that there will be full disinvestment in
all public sector enterprises in non-strategic sectors.

• Production-linked incentives for electronics manufacturing are likely to result in lakhs of

crores of smartphone production in India for domestic use and exports.

In sum, these game-changing reforms have prompted domestic and foreign investors to start
pouring in billions of dollars of investments into our economy.

Conclusion -
During these uncertain times, India remains a safe haven. Many countries are stumbling through
the pandemic. Meanwhile, India has seized control of its destiny and is marching resolutely
toward the post-pandemic future.

Source - The Hindu

QUESTION - Discuss how the strategy of lockdown during the novel coronavirus pandemic
was converted into an opportunity by India in introducing sweeping reforms across many
sectors.

One-China Policy
“We support the One China policy. However, we expect you to also have a One India policy.”
These were the words of the late External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj spoken to the Foreign
Minister of China, Wang Yi in June 2014.

With rising Chinese belligerence on Indian territories and its total disregard for New Delhi’s
sensitivities on sovereignty and territorial integrity, it is indeed time to revise the One China
policy and strike where it hurts China. This is because One China is critically related to the issue
of Chinese legitimacy.

What is ‘One China Policy’?

• Legitimacy in simple terms means the right to rule or govern. This is what threatened China in
June 1950, when with the outbreak of the Korean War, the US administration under President
Truman which had earlier recognised the People’s Republic of China (PRC) declared that “the
status of Taiwan has yet to be determined” and thus resumed economic and military
support to Taiwan.

• It may be recalled that in 1949 after defeating the Nationalist Guomindang (GMD) in the civil war,
the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) formed the government and declared itself as the sole legal
government for the whole of China. At the same time, the Nationalist Guomindang (GMD)
Government fled the Mainland and formed the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. But the onset
of the Cold War led the US to withdraw recognition to the PRC and support Taiwan. This
brought into effect the existence of two Chinas, the PRC and the ROC. Inevitably, this triggered
the legitimacy crisis. The question of who represented the real Chinese nation loomed large for
the PRC.

• Also, due to US support for Taiwan and hostility towards PRC, Beijing remained unrecognised in
the global community and stayed out of the United Nations until 1971. It is in this context that
the PRC made One China policy a precondition for countries to establish diplomatic ties
with it. This underscored first that the countries should acknowledge Taiwan and Tibet as part
RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 10
of the Mainland China, and second, the countries had to choose between either supporting
the PRC or the ROC.

Legitimacy issue -
• The second important consequence that the legitimacy issue had for Beijing is related to the
notion of sovereign territoriality. The formation of a separate Chinese government under the
GMD was seen not only as a reneged province but as a territorial loss and an incomplete
sovereignty.

• This loss basically reminded China of the century of humiliation that the Western imperialism
had inflicted on it. Also, this threatened to undermine its standing as a legitimate sovereign
state. Additionally, this allowed the US to constantly play the Taiwan card against China.
Even after establishing formal diplomatic relations with the PRC on 1st January 1979, and
accepting to adhere to the one-China policy, US simultaneously signed the Taiwan Relations
Act in April 1979, thus establishing a quasi-formal defence commitment to Taiwan.

• Since then, the US has kept the One China issue on the boil. These twin aspects of the
legitimacy crisis for China in the Cold War era, one emanating from lack of international
recognition and the other from loss of territory, engendered an erosion of power.

Sino-India Tibet agreement of 1954 -

• A crisis of legitimacy would have an impact on maintenance of power. This exactly happened
for China in the post-1949 era when Taiwan was internationally recognised and counted
among the big five in the United Nations Security Council. China was clearly rendered
vulnerable. It was in this context that it signed the 1954 agreement with India.

• By getting Nehru to sign the 1954 agreement, China not only got India’s legitimation on
Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet, but also got recognition as a true representative
of the Chinese nation. Arguably, for China the disputed border was not an issue. It was India’s
recognition of China’s sovereignty over Tibet that mattered most.

• Hence, India’s acceptance of One China policy bolstered its power and legitimacy. This
significantly suggests that for China, legitimacy is contingent on its sovereign control over
territory. In other words power of the Chinese state stems from its notions of territoriality.

Why does territoriality matters the most to China?

• Geographically, China’s Central Plains, which constituted the core of Han Chinese
population, is surrounded by a non-Han periphery region forming almost a crescent shape.
This peripheral region which although comprises the vast 63.7% of the mainland is dominated
by only 8.49% of China’s non-Han minority population. Tellingly, this indicates the enormity
of territory under a minuscule minority population, mostly along the strategic northeastern,
northern, and western peripheries.

• Historically, this peripheral region, which comprises today the autonomous regions of Inner
Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Guangxi were not under the control of the Chinese
imperial dynasties. Also, for most part of its history, China confronted the threat of nomadic
invasions from its north and north-western peripheral regions, thus enhancing its territorial
vulnerability. These barbarians not only plundered the rich Yellow River basin but also
constituted the ruling dynasties of imperial China.

• Furthermore, the identity of the Chinese people as Han, coalesced only in opposition to the
barbarian dominance of China’s Central Plains from the post-Tang era when the Chinese
Song dynasty was pushed to the south of the Yangtze Valley. From then on, there arose a
persistent call among the Han Chinese to retrieve the Central Plains from the hands of the
barbarians. Therefore historically, security of the core territories had been a perennial Chinese
concern.

• Moving on, in the 19th century, the defeat of the Manchus in the Opium Wars led to signing of
a series of unequal treaties between the Qing dynasty and the Western imperialists that
resulted into ceding of extraterritorial rights to the foreigners which eventually turned China
into a semi -colony under some 92 foreign powers. This fateful development is captured in the
oft-mentioned phrase ‘cutting of the Chinese melon’. Moreover, this loss of territory was
accompanied with a loss of centrality when China was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese
RAJ IAS ACADEMY 24th August, 2020 Page 11
War of 1895. This defeat by the Japanese forces stripped Taiwan off from China and caused
Korea to become independent and ultimately caused the collapse of the Chinese world order.
• This predicament is aptly captured in the nationalist writings of the time in the phrase ‘Wang
Guo’, meaning, the death of the state. That is, the loss of territorial sovereignty was considered
synonymous to the collapse of the state. It was at this juncture that imperial China understood
the Westphalian notions of sovereignty, defined in terms of fixed territorial boundaries and
sovereign authority. Also, it realised that the imperial notion of ‘loose reign’ or indirect rule was
ill-suited to confront the new menace of Western ‘barbarians’.

• Consequently, the Qing rulers transformed its civilisational frontiers into definite national
boundaries. Xinjiang was thus ‘provincialised’ in 1884, and so was Taiwan, in 1887. Before it
could invade and provincialise Tibet, the Great Game ensued and that precluded the Qing
China from making further territorial encroachments. This task of nationalising the frontiers was
completed with the foundation of the PRC. As soon as the new government was formed, it
embarked upon the invasion and occupation of Tibet. Notably, in the post- World War II era,
the nation-state model had become a universal standard for state formation and
sovereignty. China too appropriated it to legitimise its sovereign political power.

Opening up the fault-lines -

• China having typically been motivated by the historical need to securitise its borders paid no
heed to the different and diverse cultural identities of the peripheral regions.

• To merely gain sovereign control over the periphery, it crafted a minority policy that essentially
coerced the non-Han identities to submerge within the greater Han nationalism. Inevitably,
this resulted in a growth of minority nationalism, be it Uighur unrest or the Tibetan
movement, all of which exposed the fragility of the Chinese nation.

• Therefore, on the one hand the existence of Taiwan, albeit as a de facto sovereign power, and
on the other, the simmering minority unrest, both point to the fragility of Chinese nation
building process and limitations of its legitimacy claims, thus, threatening to destabilise the
territorial identity of China.

What do we learn from it?

From the above analysis, two things become apparent -

• One, China has deep-seated vulnerability on territorial issues owing to the critical linkage
between territorial sovereignty and political legitimacy.

• And two, the nation-building process in China is both incomplete and fragile and this
exacerbates its territorial vulnerability.

Viewed in this context, challenging the One China policy would certainly unnerve the
Chinese. Thus, India needs to rethink its One China policy. Also, given Beijing’s disregard for
One India policy, challenging the One China policy is not only desirable but also doable to tame
the belligerent China.

Source - VIF India

QUESTION - What is ‘One China Policy’? Why does it matters so much to the Chinese?
Should India revise its stance on the ‘One China Policy’?