Deccan Herald, 3 November 2011

Beijing’s envoy to New Delhi, Zhang Yan, on Thursday asked an Indian journalist to shut up.

The incident happened when the journalist asked for Zhang’s comment on a Chinese company publishing on the cover of its brochure a map that showed Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as parts of China and whole of Kashmir as part of Pakistan.

Though Zhang later tried to pacify the protesting journalists and said that both Beijing and New Delhi had been trying to resolve the bilateral boundary dispute, the incident cast a shadow on the visit of Nur Bekri, the governor of China’s restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, to India.

New Delhi also conveyed to Beijing its unhappiness over the map on the brochure of the TBEA, a heavy equipment manufacturing company based in China. The incident took place at a time when New Delhi and Beijing are preparing for the 15th round of talks between National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and China’s State Councilor Dai Bingguo on the boundary dispute. The talks are likely to take place later this month.

The incident took place hours after the TBEA’s subsidiary TBEA (India) Private Limited on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gujarat Government for a project in the State. The project is likely to draw a Foreign Direct Investment of Rs 500 crore initially, with a projected total investment of Rs 2,500 crore over three phases. The TBEA printed the controversial map on the cover of its brochure for China-Eurasia Expo, which had its first edition held in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, from September 1 to 6 last and is now set to be turned to an annual event.

The TBEA brochure was circulated among the journalists and others, who attended a business session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries here.

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