‘Regional war’ remark not aimed at India: Beijing

BEIJING: China on Tuesday clarified President Xi Jinping's recent remarks about winning "regional war" was not aimed at India.

"China will do nothing to disturb the tranquility on the border," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. "We will never allow border area to influence Sino-India relations."

Hua was replying to questions whether Xi's remarks amounted to a threat to India amid a border standoff. "I believe that this may be a wild guess," she said. The guessing was completely "off the mark", she added.

The spokeswoman dismissed suggestions that China was worried about growing India-Japan ties.

"The Chinese people are not fragile and petty nation. We are happy to see other countries develop friendly bilateral relations as long as such relationship is positive and conducive to regional peace," she said.

"Such dispute has been managed and border area is in tranquility," she said when asked about the presence of 800 Chinese soldiers on the Indian territory.

"There may be some problem between the two countries but you can be assured that the two leaders (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi) have consensus to solve the disputes through friendly coordination," she said.

Chiding a reporter who asked about reports that India had cancelled a dialogue with Chinese journalists, Hua said, "I am wondering where your concerns come from. I believe that we all should take holistic and objective view in saying these things." She believed the dialogue may have been postponed, not cancelled.