Gunners Shot

Prof Shen, Namrata Hasija, Aadi and I had a very interesting dialogue on the Indo - Taiwanese relationship in the context of dealing with our common adversary - China. I t was an important dialogue for me. It vastly expanded my understanding of China. Major points which flowed from this dialogue were :-   1. Understanding the internal politics and compulsions of China is very important while dealing with China. There is always an overriding political overtone in Chinese military actions. That was evident in Eastern Ladakh. Many of us failed to decipher it.    2. The CCP is neither a monolith nor is it a system where Xi Jinping's word is law. They have different factions. Each of them vie for power. Xi Jinping has to strive to stay in power. Understanding the nuances at play is important to assess Chinese military intentions. Due to these internal power plays, China's ability to take risk beyond a point is limited.    3. Prof Shen made a very important point. ONLY AN IDIOT WILL