It started on
June 4, 1967, Krishnan Raghunath, a 1962 batch Indian Foreign Service
officer who was posted in Beijing was arrested by the Chinese army on charges
of espionage. During the India-China standoff, New Delhi matched every tactic
with that of the Chinese, which they never expected from India after the 1962
debacle. India matched Chinese unyielding and harsh steps and peace overtures from
both sides also started to mimic each other. After the 1962 betrayal, India has
proved time and again that it shall not let China succeed in its bullying
tactics. Be it the recent India-China standoff in Ladakh or the diplomats
episode of 1967 when the Indian Embassy was besieged in Beijing in a
threatening diplomatic standoff between the two giant neighbours.
Many Indians may not remember and the present
generation wont be aware of the diplomatic row in 1967, and how India responded tit for tat without
bowing to Chinese aggressive posturing. After the betrayal and the debacle in the
India-China war of 1962, China was under the impression they could bully
India and get away with it. And never in
their wildest imagination did they ever think India would respond so strongly.
An ex-Indian Army officer, Probal Dasgupta in his
book ‘Watershed 1967: India’s Forgotten War with China’ explained the incident
where India, China relations took a severe blow and the diplomatic standoff
that could have turned into a military one.
On June 4, 1967, Krishnan Raghunath, a 1962 batch
Indian Foreign Service officer who was posted in Beijing was arrested by the
Chinese army on charges of espionage. His only crime being that he and his
friend P Vijay went to visit the temple of ‘Sleeping Buddha’ where he clicked a
few pictures of the remains of the temple.
Jerome A. Cohen and Hungdah Chiu wrote in their
book ‘People’s China and International Law’ that the Chinese government immediately
abolished Raghunath’s diplomatic status and declared Vijay as’ Persona non
grata’ before he could take office. The term ‘Persona non grata’ in a
diplomatic sense refers to a foreign person entering or remaining in a certain
country is prohibited by that government.
On June 13, a court in Beijing prosecuted Raghunath
and Vijay on the charges of espionage and found them ‘guilty of spying in China’.
The court ordered Raghunath to leave China immediately while Vijay was ordered
to leave China within three days.
The Hindu‘s report on June 15, 1967, that
reported on the incident said that the Chinese Red Guards pounded the two
Indian diplomats in wild scenes at Beijing airport before they managed to leave
for Hong Kong after being expelled by the Chinese government.
The Second Secretary Mr Krishnan Raghunath and the
Third Secretary, Mr P. Vijay were dragged and pushed, held by the neck and arms
amongst the crowd by Red Guards. The report also mentioned that Vijay was
dragged by the neck and arms past a group of Western diplomats and foreign
correspondents with his head forced down near to the ground.
His shoes had been torn off and he was barely
walking in socks. “Other Indian diplomats were hit and Third Secretary, C.V.
Ranganathan was made to bow his head by the crowd and was forced him to kneel
on the ground.
Embassy staff who tried to help the two expelled
diplomats were manhandled and kept away.” However, on landing in India, these
two diplomats were welcomed as heroes by the Jan Sangh Party at the Palam
airport in New Delhi.
India didn’t take this matter lightly and furiously
wrote a letter in protest to the Chinese Foreign Ministry telling them that
China has violated international laws by making a film of the confessions of
two Indian diplomats which would have been used as propaganda against India.
“In response to the Chinese belligerence, Chen
LuChih, the first secretary of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, was accused of
gathering vital intelligence from India and carrying on subversive activities
on Indian soil.
Chen, in retaliation by New Delhi, was stripped of
his diplomatic immunity and ordered to register under the Foreigners
Registration Act,” wrote Dasgupta in an excerpt from his book.
Unlike China, India didn’t bother with a trial. The
next day, on June 14, the external affairs ministry ordered his immediate
deportation to China. The Indian government now turned towards Hsieh Cheng-Hao,
who was the third secretary of the embassy and accused him of subversive
activities too.
He was promptly declared persona non grata and
ordered to leave India within seventy-two hours. The Indian government had
responded with alacrity and unusual boldness, showing the heart to return
China’s compliment.
The next day, a violent mob surrounded the Chinese
embassy in New Delhi and smashed the windows, set fire to a garage, tore down
the Chinese flag and assaulted members of the embassy staff. That day seven
members of the embassy staff, including Chen Lu-Chih and Hsieh Cheng-Hao had to
be taken to hospital.
In response to the violence, the Chinese government
sent a notice to Ram Sathe, the Indian charge d’affaires in Beijing that the
Indian embassy staff’s safety could no longer be guaranteed. A mob in Beijing
attacked Sathe’s residence and the Indian Embassy was taken under siege.
“The hostility on both sides had crossed diplomatic
lines. The danger to the lives of the diplomats on both sides was beginning to
raise international concern. The likelihood of another war loomed dangerously
close,” wrote the author.
India warned of “appropriate counter-measures” and
sent armed sentries at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi the following day with
specific instructions for the Chinese diplomats: the occupants were ordered not
to leave the building. At this point, the embassy staff in both countries ended
up being detained as prisoners.
The Chinese foreign ministry suggested sending
aircraft to rescue the Chinese diplomats. When India mirrored the same solution
for its diplomats, Beijing refused. The author wrote that they didn’t seem to
anticipate that India was in no mood to surrender.
“The following day, as a Chinese aircraft touched
down in Delhi to take back the diplomats, the government in Delhi refused to
provide refuelling facilities for the aircraft. Finally, after assurances, an
injured Hsieh Cheng-Hao was allowed to leave Delhi on June 21. Chen Lu-Chih was
kept under detention and deported three days later.”
The demonstrations outside the Indian embassy in
Beijing were halted and Sathe was also told that the embassy staff were free to
leave the compound and return to their flats. New Delhi responded with a
reciprocal gesture and withdrew their sentries at the Chinese embassy. The
staff could now step out of the embassy in Delhi, though their personal safety
remained unguaranteed.
During such a standoff, New Delhi matched every
tactic with that of its adversary. “After having mirrored each other’s unyielding
and harsh steps, peace overtures from both sides also started to mimic each
other. An uneasy truce was established and the ugly diplomatic fracas didn’t
blow up into a military crisis,” concluded the author.
* |
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MyPost
India joins
US and China among world’s
three biggest military spenders
The US, China and India were the world’s three
biggest military spenders in 2019, arms watchdog Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute (SIPR) said . India’s defence expenditure rose by 6.8% to
$71.1 billion. India’s tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are
among the major drivers for its increased military spending, SIPRI senior
researcher Siemon Wezeman said.
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