Daily Times

The impact of rising tensions between China and India following the latest border brawl seems to be spreading to Chinese companies in India.

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo on Wednesday cancelled the live online launch of its flagship 5G handset in India, a development that sees seething Indians translate to rage against Chinese goods.

Both governments to some extent have expressed willingness to calm down, and businesses want to maintain their economic and trade cooperation. But, Chinese businesses need to be advised to watch out for potential risks from growing anti-China sentiment in India.

In order to ensure the safety of their capital and personnel, it is essential for Chinese companies to take precautions for a worst-case scenario and consider placing their India investment and production plans on hold until the border crisis between the two neighbors is resolved.

As far as the current situation is concerned, there is no denying that the border dispute between China and India will cast a shadow over bilateral economic and trade relations, as anti-China sentiment in India will likely continue for some time. But that doesn’t mean Chinese companies should sit idle and wait for things to calm down. If possible, they should start thinking about diversifying their investments and seeking potential alternative markets.

We hope the Indian government will offer necessary protection for all Chinese personnel, as well as all Chinese businesses and their assets in the country.

The deadly border incident was something neither party could have anticipated or wanted to see, and the consequent rising nationalist fever in India has already caused significant pressure to bilateral relations and economic ties.

In any case, it is the responsibility of a government to safeguard the property and personnel security of all businesses within its boundary.

If the boiling nationalist sentiment continues unchecked in India, it may lead to serious consequences in extreme cases, which would only weaken that market’s appeal to the outside world, making it easier to be replaced with other Southeast Asian markets.

It is high time to call for both governments and the peoples to show rationality in the face of the border tension so as to maintain the stability of bilateral economic and trade ties. Whether China-India relations can weather the current difficulties will be a major test for the resilience of the two countries’ economic ties.

If the two can overcome the difficulty, people from both countries would benefit from the sustainable development of bilateral ties. But if they fail, then it would also be the peoples who will bear the negative outcome, and, Indians may suffer more losses than their Chinese neighbors.