Chinese Aggression On Border, Like With India, To Take Advantage Of Pandemic Distractions: US Official

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that China might have instigated the clash at Galwan valley which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers in attempt to grab territory.

(File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Chinese aggression on the multiple fronts like the one with India is because China wants to take advantage of the Covid-19 situation while the rest of the world remains busy dealing with the pandemic, a top US diplomat has said.  "China opening multiple fronts like the one on the border with India is because of Beijing's assessment that the world is "distracted" due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it could take advantage of it, US' Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell said. He added that the Trump administration is closely watching the Indo-China situation. Meanwhile, an American Senator has also stated that China may have instigated the violent clash at Galwan valley to grab Indian territory. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during a speech about the country’s foreign policy that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China may have started the clash ‘for the sake of grabbing territory’. On land, for the sake of grabbing territory, the PLA appears to have instigated the most violent clash between China and India since those nations went to war in 1962. Needless to say, the rest of the world has watched with grave concern this violent exchange between two nuclear states. We are encouraging de-escalation and hoping for peace," said Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader in a PTI report. Also Watch| China opening multiple fronts of confrontation: US State Dept During his speech, he had listed China as one of the top countries that were threatening the interests of the US and its allies. The Republican senator lighted that the Communist Party of China is using the pandemic as an opportunity to spread their control. He said that even at sea they have increased their threats to Japan near the disputed Senkaku Islands and also intruded Taiwanese airspace four times. “But the world could not have received a clearer reminder that the PRC is dead-set on brutalizing people within their own borders, challenging and remaking the international order anew in their image to include literally redrawing the world map," said McConnell. Twenty soldiers of the Indian Army were martyred during a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night. Since the clash, there have been growing calls to boycott china made products in India.