Search

The China-India border dispute is the biggest obstacle to the development of China-India relations. The existing studies on the China-India border dispute do not pay enough attention to geographical factors and lack comprehensive analysis of multi-agent and multi-scale, so it is difficult to grasp the essential characteristics and overall situation of the China-India border issue. This paper proposes a multi-scale geopolitical analysis framework to analyze the competitive nature of contemporary China-India border dispute under the joint action of multi-scale and multi-agent. The main conclusion is that the contemporary China-India border dispute is a complex problem caused by multi-scale spatial superposition and multi-agent power game. On the global scale, the China-India border dispute is an important part of the strategic interaction be‐ tween the United States and India to contain China; At the regional scale of South Asia, China-India border dispute is a land blockade for India and its partner countries to restrict China's expansion of influence in South Asia; On the bilateral scale of China and India, India regards the China-India border dispute as a strategic fulcrum to seek land advantages over China, and tries to gain strategic advantages over China on both land and sea; At the national internal scale, the China-India border dispute is a competition between China and India in the border transformation mechanism; At the border area scale, the China-India border dispute is a competition between the two countries in terms of their ability to effectively manage border areas. The national inter‐ nal scale is the core scale that determines the China-India border dispute, but the possibility of the two countries reaching a reasonable compromise on this scale is still very small in the short term. The current situation of the global, South Asian region, and bilateral scale is not conducive to a rational solution of the China-India border dispute. The border area scale is the main focus of the China-India border dispute for a long time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scientific understanding of India's border-strategy is of great significance for China to formulate reasonable strategies towards India. Existing studies cannot explain why India has been provoking and encroachment in the Sino-India border area under the condition of the wide gap in comprehensive power between China and India, and it is difficult to provide a theoretical basis for China to adjust its strategy towards India in the future. Based on the framework of national border projected power, the paper chooses 4 time nodes, and combines historical studies and field work resources to explain Sino-India border strategic behavior in different historical phases. The results show that: ① National border projected power is the fundamental cause of national border strategic behavior. The national border projected power is mainly affected by comprehensive national power, restrictive power, geo-distance, trade relations. ② When China's comprehensive national power is powerful and unencumbered by restrictive power, the intensity of its national border projected power will rise, which will promote China to become the dominant side in the border strategic behavior of the Himalayan region, vice versa. ③ Based on the analytical framework, it is suggested that China should accurately evaluate the changes of the Sino-India national border projected power, scientifically place more emphases on the containment of external restrictive power, and reasonably enhance national projected power allocating in the border area, so as to actively respond to India's military adventures in the border area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]