Defused for now

A brewing bilateral crisis over ill-treatment meted out to Indians – a diplomat and two traders – in the Chinese city of Yiwu, has been defused for now, with Beijing finally intervening to secure the release of the two Indian traders held in illegal detention for over a fortnight in Yiwu.

Yiwu locals had abducted the two Indian traders who were working for a company whose owner had decamped without repaying $1.5 million to local creditors. Matters came to a head when a local court ill-treated an Indian diplomat who had gone toYiwu to secure the release of the traders. A local trade dispute was now on the verge of becoming a diplomatic row. It was evident that Yiwu’s police and courts were doing little about the illegal detention of the businessmen.

They were acting not to uphold the due process of law but in collusion with local businessmen. Understandably, this ruffled feathers in Delhi, prompting an advisory warning Indian traders against doing business in Yiwu. India would not have felt compelled to do so had the Chinese government acted sooner to protect Indian nationals. It was India’s tough response that finally pushed Beijing, which tended to downplay the issue by dismissing it as a civic-commercial dispute, to act.

Hundreds of Indian businessmen, students and tourists visit China daily. The treatment meted out to Indians at Yiwu is unlikely to have escaped their attention. It could make China less attractive to Indian businesses. Beijing cannot afford to brush aside the ugly incidents at Yiwu as something that happened in a small town, involving local authorities. Beijing’s next steps will be closely monitored not just by Indian traders but by other foreign businessmen too.

Sino-Indian trade is growing at a scorching pace. It is trade that is providing momentum to bilateral relations, which are otherwise testy. Should this trade slow down, Sino-Indian relations will be impacted for the worse. It is therefore important that Beijing ensures that unpleasant incidents such as those at Yiwu do not recur. It is not our contention that China should overlook illegal activity of Indians doing business there. They must be punished but according to the law of the land and through due process. A modern, vibrant economy cannot allow a howling mob to dictate justice. It does China little credit.