[Sree]

We cannot wish China away. They are our immediate neighbor. They’re one of the most powerful- (economic and military) countries in the world. They’re among our biggest trade partners.
They’re so many times more advanced than us- military, economic, scientific, etc. We will never be able to catch up with them in the next few decades.

All these factors leave India only one course. To try as much as possible to close all conflicts using diplomacy and to take unresolved conflict to global level in partnership with other like minded democracies like EU, Australia, Canada and USA. India should not go to a war it can’t win. Our priorities should be different.

[msdivy]

GetOut China program, errr powered by Vivo

[ramzsys]

"it is very difficult to boycott China goods"

Not sure whether the border skirmish or the above is the more serious problem.

[V.Narayan]

In the immediate term it is in the interests of both sides to tone down the rhetoric, arrive at mutually face saving answers and get back to the status quo. Ultimately that is how Doklum was resolved. Angry retorts and Arnab G style sabre rattling serves no purpose. Our response has to weigh our strengths and vulnerabilities and our priorities.

Just like it is Pakistan's policy to ferment terrorism and try to inflict pain on us through non-state actors so it is China's policy to constantly create border disputes with its neighbours. China has land border disagreements with the following neighbours - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Mongolia and at one time with the USSR. Their aggression in Ladakh is totally premeditated. It is meant to keep India unbalanced while Nepal and Pakistan act as proxies stirring up more trouble. Their act with Kazakhistan portends what happens when you give in. Every few years a fresh border peace agreement is signed parceling away bits of Kazakh land to China. Why they chase bits and pieces of land is probably buried deep in their collective psyche.

In the medium term our only real defence is building our economy, designing and manufacturing our own weapons and building bi-lateral & multi-lateral bridges with our neighbours. The third we do well on the whole. The second we are pathetic at. The first we were doing quite well till 2018 and have worked hard at digging our own grave since then. China can make inroads into our neighbours {to our detriment} only when our MEA or senior politicos do arrogant & stupid things {in Sri Lanka & Nepal and almost in Maldives}. This is not a battle of military heft though adequate military heft are table stakes to stay alive. This is a battle of economic might and international muscle.

I would not be surprised if the Nepal-Ladakh two pronged attack is actually a three pronged one the third being some trouble to be created by Pakistan in the near future.

China views India as the main party spoiler on its {China’s} road to pan-Asia domination and USA as its rival for world domination.

While all this news coverage sometimes, over dramatic, is going on we should remember both that (i) we are not exactly a pushover either economically or militarily ; and (ii) our opponent is the second largest & most powerful nation. I believe we are entering a phase of maybe a year or two of troubles with China.

Unfortunately with this aggression towards India, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia, China is only depleting its long term goodwill that was nurtured and built up by a long line of mature leaders from Deng Xiaoping to Hu Jintao. Xi Ping may seem extra strong showing so much muscle but often aggression is a mask for insecurity.

[Nissan1180]

A quarter of India's imports from China are semiconductor products (https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_...chn/show/2017/) like phones, laptops etc. In the short term, there's no substitute for them. India does not have a single fabrication facility. That's also the reason why all the silicon
solar cells are getting imported- even the biggest companies in India are assembling panels, not making cells.

Let's suppose that 50% of the imports are semiconductor based high tech equipment.

What about the rest of the stuff? Lights, diyas, clothes, cotton, oils, perfumes, shoes, pencils, notebooks etc. the list goes on. These can surely be replaced if people are willing to take note of the same and put an effort to reduce their consumption of Chinese products.

To those saying that China doesn't get affected by this, you are right in the short term. But if given an opportunity, the same Indian companies will rise up to create exportable goods at a better price and with better quality.

On another note, Made in Japan by Akio Morita, the Sony founder, is a great book to understand how a strong economy can be built by domestic brands and a government that supports entrepreneurs and exports. In India, very sadly, manufacturing is looked down upon as an "old" industry and we are what we are because of this. That a country with over a million engineering graduates every year has to import combs and pencils is tragic.

[speedmiester]

As an Indian, we should consider boycotting Chinese products.

What kind of patriotism is this when we happily ask our soldiers to sacrifice themselves for their country, but we won’t pay a little more for our mobile phones or electronics.

This will not be an easy task, but let's do our bit.

Simple questions for the naysayers.

Should we not want to do our bit for the country or only ask our brave hearts to to sacrifice their lives for us?
Any and all warfare will cost the economy. Let's not be in a frame of mind that if the war is restricted at the borders, we will pay less in terms of lives lost and hits on the exchequer than if we were to hurt China economically by boycotting its products in India?


I am guilty of using chinese products, in fact I am typing this from Lenovo laptop which is a chinese product. But, I have decided to consciously avoided buying chinese products since Feb of this year ( I blame china for the wuhan virus).

This is not an battle that could be won overnight, I have taken a pledge to take following tiny steps towards the greater goal.

• I have no chinese apps on my phone.
• I have started to find alternatives for daily products, two weeks ago I stopped myself from buying a chinese toy from my son and instead got him a toy from the Wooden toy vendors in Channapatna. If there is an easy Indian alternative, lets use them and support our countrymen.
• It is very hard to find electronic products with no chinese components in them, so I will stick to Indian or other global brands and make it a point to avoid Chinese brands

Today CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) has called for boycott of chinese products and has listed 3000 products including for which we have ready Indian alternatives. This includes electronics, consumer goods, toys, furnishings, textiles, footwear, kitchen items, luggage, food and watches.
Rs. 1 Lakh crore worth of Imports will be reduced if we use Indian products in the above segments by Dec 2021. That is a huge number.

Traders' body CAIT launches campaign to boycott Chinese goods

This is my two bit and I will do whatever I can as an Indian to show solidarity with our armed forces and my countrymen, irrespective of who/which party is in power.

[momsonlydriver]

This is not an overnight project to get rid of Chinese goods completely. It will take years to localize each and every product. My theory is that China has a major power over goods. They seem to be in mood of capturing the entire world which is ofcourse very dangerous with the use of ammunition. The coronavirus seems to be the start. There seems to be more coming if the rest of the world doesn't unite and fight back.

[WorkingGuru]

I'm may be going against the tide, but IMHO for the past 60 years, China has not been violent towards India. I'm not saying it hasn't been adversarial, it has. But, all rivals are pragmatic & China has been just as such.

It would be false to say we/our politicians haven't missed making use of the global opportunities, especially during the last 2 decades. It was largely because of this that we couldn't find it economical to sign the RCEP.

Has China gathered it's wealth by violently plundering other countries natural resources (compared to US & UK) over the past 200 years ?
NO. They worked & became the manufacturing hub of the world.

So much so that apparently the cost of semi-skilled labour there is higher than the cost of semi-skilled labour in India. To be honest, this is why Chinese mobile companies moved it's manufacturing to India.

Ofcourse USA will be happy to see India and China fight economic & even real wars, they just want cheaper products while the world fights each other. It's how they've always got what they wanted.

Ask yourself, does China have blood on its hands the way US has made wars happen in the middle East countries in the garb of bringing Democracy to people ?

When India needed Cryogenic Engine Technology, not only did US refuse to sell it to us, they prevented Russia from selling the technology to us. We had to buy 5 engines from Russia & reverse engineer them. Back then, this was a very expensive & time consuming process for a poor country whose smartest IITians & technical graduates were walking away to US.

Hasn't this elongated the time taken to reduce poverty, and made us lose many lives in the struggle ?

(Btw, To say that those who went to US sent back money is another folly IMO. They didn't donate money to India, they sent back money to their parents who spent it on things they found worth to buy. None of that foreign exchange was a donation to India.)

IMO we should restructure the country by organising our citizenry (& the labour force) and keep calm about this Anti-China rethoric being stirred up by corrupt indifferent politicians who have failed to constitute the right policies at the right time for us in the last 2 decades.

I would absolutely oppose mindless Banning of Chinese capital goods that can help us create Jobs in India.

While we need to create restrictions to encourage manufacturing products with low technological expertise, we do need investments from companies like Great Wall Motors & "Chinese" Morris Garages to come to India and sell vehicles to create manufacturing jobs here so that our population can improve its technical expertise.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

While we need to create restrictions to encourage manufacturing products with low technological expertise, we do need investments from companies like Great Wall Motors & "Chinese" Morris Garages to come to India and sell vehicles to create manufacturing jobs here so that our population can improve its technical expertise.

Its not about banning products. Not at the govt level. People can decide and step back on buying chinese products. There are alternatives to their products. Other MNCs will use the chinese supply chain. It might be a little expensive. Less demand will automatically create some pressure on their companies.

[The Rationalist]

China is a big bully, no two ways. But they are an economic powerhouse with cheap resources, there comes our problem. We need the resources, heck the humble paracetamol’s ingredient is imported 100%! In the current world order we can’t wish away Chinese things. Our only hope would be democracy finding root there and the current system of government changes. I’m sure in the long run that will happen. We have to bear with this bully till then. We have to avoid a war as far as possible, but if they insist on war, we should go for it as a last ditch effort. And if we do go for a war, should inflict the bully some real damage that they will think a thousand time before any adventure.

[nikhilck]

I am of the opinion that we should strengthen our-self internally first. We need to put in our kids a sense of scientific curiosity and a desire to make things. We need to teach them the joy of making things. Too many of our people are obsessed with money. Most of our youth is following a standard template of: Get a steady job, get married at 27, buy an apartment and live a stable life. I don't think that this a recipe to create something game-changing.

We have millions of smart people (smart on paper ie, degrees) but they lack curiosity. The values of curiosity and quality work should be taught by parents. Steve Jobs dad taught him the value of making things good, both on the outside and the inside (where no one can see). We need parents or mentors like that. What we need are examples to follow...

[anb]

Mod Note : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum. We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further. Request to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[headbanger]

Apologies for the long rant, but I am disheartened with the deluge of facts and numbers at play here.

There are some moments where decisions are governed by one's existence and conscience; probably where the world of economics and my money, I pay taxes rhetoric ends.

Lots of folks have shared grandeur stories of China's might and while it's a fact that we are dealing with a bigger and stronger adversary on paper, history has ample number of examples where the courage and collective will of underdogs has been written with awe.

I don't care whether my choice of not buying a PRC product pricks a needle or slashes a big cut on the adversary, but I did my bit. If my action shows the intent that I am not OK with someone barging in my house, that's all that matters. If those young army men on the border also acted by normal logic and facts, they should not have gotten into fight knowing that they are outnumbered by a margin. They chose to fight and not allow the adversary an open door into our territory. They did their bit. I will do mine and in the process, if I end up making some hard choices, let it be.

I don't want to demean anyone but will my reaction be same if the transgression happened to my own sweet home rather than somewhere high up in Ladakh? Will I start evaluating my adversary's economic might or fight to save my abode?

Try telling any of the facts, numbers and data to the ones who left us fighting for saving an inch of our motherland.

Rome wasn't built in a day and surely we can't change our country's situation in a flip. If this misadventure leads us to change direction and aim for something greater, surely it ain't gonna be easy and super quick. It's gonna take a grind. But the question is are you game for it? Are you willing to make changes and do your bit?

[vibbs]

As I can see from some numbers depicted in this thread, our existence will be impacted more by boycotting the Chinese (specially in some sectors) than not boycotting them.

This is unfortunately due to the fact that we simply have not established alternatives to move away from over reliance in so many years.

The problem with China did not start now. The LAC disagreement is lingering since decades, it was just waiting to get activated. Boycott of Chinese should have started much earlier. Or rather, not letting them to enter our market at all.

We will do our bits better, if we irrespective of our political leanings ask the right questions to our governments and politicians. Question the government when they enact policies that they were stalling for years while in opposition and question the opposition on why they stall it now.

We will do our bit, if we are ready to question our leaders why INR XXX Crores spent in ABC could not be used to facilitate ease of doing business in our country.

I hope this crisis on the border does not fizzle out with just rhetorics of boycotting Chinese goods but drive us towards making real development a poll issue rather than empty promises.

[ashokrajagopal]

Soldiers are precious. They are not to be used like stones thrown at enemies when populations have ego trips. Which is why discussing reality is most important, so that populations can influence policy for actual change.