Wikileaks: India sought US help to deal with ‘assertive China’

Earlier,when US President Barack Obama had visited China in late 2009,a joint Sino-American statement had called for the two countries to “work together to promote peace,stability and development in that (South Asia) region”. This had,in turn,raised more worries about China’s role in Asia.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,in his visit to US in late 2009 had raised worries over China officially,specifically talking about ‘China’s greater assertiveness’. The PM had also brought up the mention of India and Pakistan resolving their disputes in the US-China joint statement.

America had allayed Indian worries by agreeing that the world had to deal with a rising China and ensure that the rise was peaceful.

India is not the only country worried by Chinese assertiveness. According to a Guardian report,Japanese officials also filed similar complaints to the American ambassador. Japanese diplomats complained that officials were “aggressive and difficult” during summit preparations.

Japan was also concerned about rising tensions in the East China Sea. The cable claimed that it had specifically warned about “the increased aggressiveness of Chinese ‘coastguard’ and naval units…” which had provoked “many dangerous encounters with Japanese civilian and self-defence force ships”.