By Zhu Mengying
BEIJING, Dec. 8 -- An Indian official who asked for anonymity claimed that in mid-October, at least four leaders of an anti-government organization wanted by the Indian government were trained and purchased weapons in Kunming, a city in south China’s Yunnan Province, according to news from the New Delhi TV (NDTV).
The official is reported as saying that Myanmar’s anti-government organizations, including the United Wa State Army and the Arakan Army, have acted as “Beijing’s proxies” and provided weapons and shelter for secessionist organizations in India's northeastern states.
The report also said three of the four wanted insurgent leaders are affiliated with secessionists in northeast India’s Nagaland. While in Kunming, they “met with acting and retired Chinese military officials as well as other middlemen”.
But NDTV added that these claims by the Indian official were soon denied by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
According to NDTV, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a written response that China doesn’t interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. “China maintains a prudent and responsible attitude toward military exports” and “We only conduct military trade in cooperation with sovereign states and do not sell arms to non-state actors ”.
NDTV also said that the United Wa State Army has also denied a role in providing any aid or support to Indian rebel groups on China's behalf. It rebuked the accusation as “groundless” as it do not “have any connection with India's national security, and do not harm that country (India) at all ”.
The authenticity of Indian media’s reports on China is frequently brought under question. In fact, the UK’s Janes Intelligence Review and other western media also used to hype up the rumor of China selling weapons to anti-government forces in India. The spokespersons for the Chinese Foreign Ministry have refuted these rhetorics as “groundless”, emphasizing that “China are not supporting armed groups against India”.
