A new territorial map issued by China has ASEAN leaders scrambling

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has taken an imperial stance with the map — and in doing so has said that his neighbors concerns don’t matter, political and international editor Peter Hartcher argues in the Sydney Morning Herald. That could push allies who have tended to align themselves with China towards the U.S., Indian strategic analyst C. Raja Mohan told the paper. “Xi is leaving himself little room and he’s pushing his neighbours toward the US. We have seen great leaders display great stupidity,” Mohan said.• 1

The border between India and China has been a long-standing source of tension between the two countries. “India and China do take every opportunity to hash out their differences, but it feels like one step forward, two steps back,” in regards to their relations, Akhil Ramesh, a senior fellow at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum, told CNN in a recent interview. The two countries are both vying to be leaders of the Global South, and despite assertions that they are working to warm their relationship, “I do not see this happening,” Ramesh added.• 2

Border disputes between China and India have historically result in armed standoffs, Jiba Raj Pokharel notes in The Himalayan Times. Both countries have a vested interest in settling their concerns over the border, Pokharel notes, and “China has to find a lasting solution because it has been alleged of highhandedness,” by India and several other countries. But India, Pokharel argues, should also find a diplomatic way to settle the conflict: “It is unbecoming for a nation to be tangled in such petty problems with neighbouring countries,” he writes.• 3