Need to learn lesson from 1962 war: Chinese daily

Ahead of the India-China border talks, an official Chinese daily today said both countries need to learn a lesson from the 1962 war that even though Beijing may like peace, it will firmly defend "its" land.

Using strong words, the write-up in ruling Communist Party's Global Times' web edition said the 1962 war was to "wake up" former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from the influence of US and former Soviet Union by giving him a "heavy punch".

It also claimed the real target for Chinese leader Mao Zedong's ire at that time was Washington and Moscow. "Fifty years ago, when China faced several difficulties both domestically and internationally, Nehru administration, encouraged by the US and the Soviets, brought more trouble to the Sino-Indian border between 1959 and 1962", the article titled 'China won, but never wanted, Sino-Indian war' said.

Written by Hong Yuan, deputy secretary-general of Centre of World Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the article focus on China's victory and Beijing's "peaceful intentions" in declaring ceasefire despite the success and the "reluctance" with which China fought it.

Significantly it said the war was fought to strike peace with India. "War is a negotiating approach, but not a goal. Similarly, China's decision to fight back against India in the 1962 border war was to strike a peace with its neighbour", it said.

"Fifty years ago, the Indian government was blinded by selfish interests, and wanted to force the Chinese to accept an illegal border line created by colonial powers.

"This was boldly rejected. Today, both countries need to learn from their ancient friendly ties and the lesson from the war. For the Chinese, they love peace but they will also firmly defend their land", the article said.

The 16th round of Special Representatives talks between the two countries are to be held in July but no date has been fixed yet.