A Decades-Old Playbook

Behind renewed flights and polite diplomacy lies Beijing’s sustained cartographic aggression, a psychological strategy designed to reshape perception and challenge India’s unquestionable sovereignty

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China's harassment of an Indian traveller is not an isolated incident but part of a calculated cognitive campaign to normalise claims over Arunachal

On this last day of the year, let us recall the incident when an Indian citizen travelling from the United Kingdom to Japan was harassed during her stopover at the Shanghai airport. She was detained for over 18 hours by Chinese authorities who refused to accept her passports validity, stating that her place of birth, indicated Arunachal Pradesh, was “part of China,” which they call “Zangnan.’ Interestingly, she claimed that she had not faced such issues while transiting through Shanghai earlier. Ina robust diplomatic reaction to the incident, MEA Spokesperson Randeep Jaiswal stated that the Northeastern state “is an integral and inalienable part of India, and this isa self-evident fact. No amount of denial by the Chinese side is going to change this indisputable reality.”

The ‘Dhurta’ Strategy

Amidst seemingly thawing bilateral relations with resumed direct flights and e-visa issuance for citizens of both countries, this incident brings the fundamental issues of bilateral tensions back into sharp focus. It is a textbook demonstration of Beijing’s Cartographic Aggression, a calculated, long-term approach that relies on the repeated assertion of a territorial lie until it gains perceptual acceptance. This tactic closely mirrors the strategy of the three cunning dhurtas (thugs) in one of the most famous stories from Vishnu Sharma's Panchatantra. That tale, Kakulukiyam, discussing scenarios in foreign policy, illustrates a core principle: if a falsehood is repeated often enough, its sheer familiarity makes it feel true, regardless of the facts.