India was concerned with China’s “newly pugnacious” foreign policy: Wikileaks

BEIJING - The whistleblower website Wikileaks’ recent secret releases of US diplomatic cables have revealed that European diplomats, including India, were “most vocal” that China’s “newly pugnacious” foreign policy is “losing friends worldwide”.

According to the Guardian, the US ambassador to Beijing had argued in a cable last February that the country’s foreign policy has failed to gain support worldwide.

In his cable, entitled “Stomp around and carry a small stick: China’s new ‘global assertiveness’ raises hackles, but has more form than substance”, he accused Beijing of “muscle-flexing, triumphalism and assertiveness”.

However he added that some observers saw it as rhetoric designed to appeal to Chinese public opinion, saying: “Numerous third-country diplomats have complained to us that dealing with China has become more difficult in the past year.”

A British diplomat said that Chinese officials’ behaviour at the Copenhagen climate change summit was “shocking” and so rude and arrogant that the UK and French complained formally, he said.

He also said that the Indian ambassador to Beijing had requested for closer co-operation with the US because of “China’s more aggressive approach”.

The secret cables also said that the main tensions appear to be with China’s neighbours or established western powers. In several cables US diplomats note China’s growing influence in Latin America and Africa, while another one notes the Kenyan ambassador stressing the benefits of China’s role on the continent and saying Africa has nothing to gain if the US and China co-operate. (ANI)