Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY 7 NOV 2015

A10

WORLD NEWSSaturday 7 November 2015

Indian policemen stop civilians near the venue of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Historic China-Taiwan meeting is
about symbolism, not substance
scheduled rally in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Authorities tightened
C. BODEEN
security dramatically in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir on Friday to prevent protests Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — Saturday’s first-ever meeting be-
ahead of a visit by Modi. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) tween the presidents of China and Taiwan presents
a formidable challenge: How can they ensure the
Kashmir: event’s place in history when nothing of substance
should happen?
Security tightened ahead of Modi’s visit No agreements or joint statements are to be issued
and only a vague agenda has been sketched out,
AIJAZ HUSSAIN planned a rally Saturday be targeted by rebels or a reflection of the extreme sensitivity surrounding the
Associated Press near the site of a public used by activists to stage event, especially on the part of Taiwanese wary of
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — meeting by Modi in Srina- protests against Indian rule. Beijing’s unification agenda.
Authorities tightened secu- gar. Police have detained Elsewhere in India, a grow- Yet the event’s symbolism as a moment of coming
rity dramatically in parts of separatist leaders and hun- ing number of writers, art- together is undeniable, putting a strong emphasis on
Indian-administered Kash- dreds of their supporters to ists, scientists and histo- presentation, atmosphere and optics.
mir on Friday to prevent prevent the protest against rians have said they are The get-together is fundamentally “about recogni-
protests ahead of a visit by Indian control over the dis- alarmed by a rising climate tion, not about results,” said University of Virginia Chi-
Indian Prime Minister Nar- puted region. of religious intolerance and naexpert Brantly Womack. “The meeting is the mes-
endra Modi. Muslim-majority Kashmir violence. sage.”
Indian forces erected steel is divided between Hin- Many have criticized Modi China’s Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou are the
barricades and laid razor du-dominated India and and his Hindu nationalist first leaders from the two sides to meet since their ter-
wire on roads and ordered Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bhartiya Janata Party for ritories split during the Chinese civil war in 1949. Ma
residents to stay indoors in which both claim the en- not speaking out against is the successor to Chiang Kai-shek, whose National-
old parts of Srinagar, the tire territory. religious attacks, saying ists retreated to the island, while Xi now leads Mao
largest city in the region. Many shops were closed in their silence has encour- Zedong’s victorious Communists, who set up govern-
The city’s main mosque Srinagar and traffic was dis- aged Hindu hard-liners to ment in Beijing.
was cordoned off and Fri- rupted as police checked justify the attacks and as- Already, arranging the meeting has required extraor-
day prayers were barred. vehicles entering the city. sert Hindu superiority. dinary flexibility and patience.
Separatist leaders had Authorities canceled uni- In Kashmir, Modi is to in- According to Taiwan, planning for Saturday’s meet-
called for a protest Friday versity and college exams augurate a power project ings began two years ago, complicated by the need
at the mosque to honor scheduled for Friday and and offer a financial aid to meet conditions consistent with China’s refusal
tens of thousands of Mus- Saturday. package a year after the to recognize Taiwan’s government and insistence
lims they say were killed Preventive arrests and cur- region was devastated by on the “one-China principle,” stating that Taiwan
in riots with Hindus in 1947. fews are fairly common in massive floods. and China are part of the same nation.
As of late afternoon there the Indian-controlled por- A number of rebel groups Ma’s government, meanwhile, needed to be highly
were no reports of clashes tion of Kashmir, particularly have operated in Kashmir mindful of public sentiment in Taiwan, where the Na-
or protests. ahead of important events since an insurgency erupt- tionalists took a drubbing in local elections last year,
Separatists have also that authorities fear could ed in 1989.q due in large part to their pro-China policies. They’re
now struggling ahead of presidential and legislative
polls in January and a negative response to Satur-
day’s meeting could deal them a knockout blow.
Ma had already committed to not traveling to Chi-
na, while Beijing had ruled out meeting at multilat-
eral forums such as the annual Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation economic leaders’ meeting. In the end,
they settled on the neutral ground of mainly ethni-
cally Chinese Singapore, whose government is close
to both Taipei and Beijing.
The two will meet in the afternoon at the luxurious
Shangri-la Hotel and attend an evening banquet. It’s
not clear what contact they’ll have with the horde
of Chinese, Taiwanese and international media de-
scending on the Southeast Asian city-state for the
event.
Mutual non-recognition requires a particular set of
protocols and government agencies.q