China accused India on Wednesday of &quot;concocting&quot; excuses over the illegal entry of the South Asian nation&#39;s military into Chinese territory on their disputed border, adding that China had shown great restraint.

The stand-off on a plateau next to the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim, which borders China, has ratcheted up tension between the neighbours, who share a 3,500-km (2,175-mile) frontier, large parts of which are disputed.

Early in June, according to the Chinese interpretation of events, Indian guards crossed into China&#39;s Donglang region and obstructed work on a road on the plateau.

The two sides&#39; troops then confronted each other close to a valley controlled by China that separates India from its close ally, Bhutan, and gives China access to the so-called Chicken&#39;s Neck, a thin strip of land connecting India and its remote northeastern regions.

India has said it warned China the road construction would have serious security implications.

In a statement, China&#39;s Foreign Ministry said the Indian military was still in Chinese territory, and that China had acted with a great deal of restraint, demanding that India withdraw its forces.

&quot;But the Indian side not only has not taken any actual steps to correct its mistake, it has concocted all sorts of reasons that don&#39;t have a leg to stand on, to make up excuses for the Indian military&#39;s illegal crossing of the border.&quot;

The Chinese ministry reiterated that the border had been agreed in 1890 by the governments of China and Britain, India&#39;s colonial ruler until 1947, and later with the Indian government.

&quot;India&#39;s actions are not only a serious encroachment of Chinese territory, but a challenge to regional peace and stability and normal international order&quot;, it added.

Indian officials say about 300 soldiers from either side are facing off from each other about 150 metres&nbsp;apart on the plateau.

They have told Reuters that both sides&#39; diplomats have quietly engaged to try to ensure the standoff does not escalate and that India&#39;s ambassador to Beijing is leading the effort to find a way for both sides to back down from confrontation without losing face.

The standoff has ratcheted up tension between the neighbours

China accused India on Wednesday of "concocting" excuses over the illegal entry of the South Asian nation's military into Chinese territory on their disputed border, adding that China had shown great restraint. The stand-off on a plateau next to the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim, which borders China, has ratcheted up tension between the neighbours, who share a 3,500-km (2,175-mile) frontier, large parts of which are disputed. Early in June, according to the Chinese interpretation of events, Indian guards crossed into China's Donglang region and obstructed work on a road on the plateau. The two sides' troops then confronted each other close to a valley controlled by China that separates India from its close ally, Bhutan, and gives China access to the so-called Chicken's Neck, a thin strip of land connecting India and its remote northeastern regions. India has said it warned China the road construction would have serious security implications. In a statement, China's Foreign Ministry said the Indian military was still in Chinese territory, and that China had acted with a great deal of restraint, demanding that India withdraw its forces. "But the Indian side not only has not taken any actual steps to correct its mistake, it has concocted all sorts of reasons that don't have a leg to stand on, to make up excuses for the Indian military's illegal crossing of the border." The Chinese ministry reiterated that the border had been agreed in 1890 by the governments of China and Britain, India's colonial ruler until 1947, and later with the Indian government. "India's actions are not only a serious encroachment of Chinese territory, but a challenge to regional peace and stability and normal international order", it added. Indian officials say about 300 soldiers from either side are facing off from each other about 150 metres apart on the plateau. They have told Reuters that both sides' diplomats have quietly engaged to try to ensure the standoff does not escalate and that India's ambassador to Beijing is leading the effort to find a way for both sides to back down from confrontation without losing face.

Doklam standoff: China says India 'concocting excuses'

China&#39;s defence ministry on Wednesday dismissed reports that Chinese military vehicles were patrolling inside Afghanistan, after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/exclusive-chinese-security-forces-caught-patrolling-deep-inside-eastern-afghanistan-8008">WION published exclusive images</a> showing security forces making regular patrols.&nbsp;

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said, &quot;Reports in foreign media of Chinese military vehicles patrolling inside Afghanistan do not accord with the facts.&quot;

The images showed Chinese security forces, ignoring international borders, made patrols in Afghanistan&#39;s far northeastern Little Pamir region, where the country shares a border with China.

Yujun explained that the two countries did work together in certain areas to fight terrorist activity and cross-border crime but dismissed the report outrightly. &nbsp;

&quot;In recent years, law enforcement bodies from China and Afghanistan, in accordance with a bilateral cooperation decision on strengthening border law enforcement, arranged to have joint law enforcement operations in border regions,&quot; Yang added.

In Afghanistan, a Kabul official also denied the report filed by WION, who asked not to be identified.&nbsp;

Independent military analysts had confirmed the images showed Chinese-manufactured military vehicles. &#39;&#39;The pictures show Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) and Humvee-type vehicles. Both appear to be Chinese versions of common Western armoured vehicles,&#39;&#39; said Justin Bronk, a senior analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, in the earlier report.&nbsp;

China has long been concerned that instability in Afghanistan will spill over into the violence-prone Xinjiang region.&nbsp;

Hundreds have died in the region, which is home to the Muslim Uighur people, in recent years in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants.

Beijing is also working with Pakistan and the United States to broker peace talks to end Afghanistan&#39;s Taliban insurgency that has raged on for 15 years.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Independent military analysts had confirmed the images showed Chinese military vehicles in Afghanistan, ignoring international borders

China's defence ministry on Wednesday dismissed reports that Chinese military vehicles were patrolling inside Afghanistan, after WION published exclusive images showing security forces making regular patrols. Chinese defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said, "Reports in foreign media of Chinese military vehicles patrolling inside Afghanistan do not accord with the facts." The images showed Chinese security forces, ignoring international borders, made patrols in Afghanistan's far northeastern Little Pamir region, where the country shares a border with China. Yujun explained that the two countries did work together in certain areas to fight terrorist activity and cross-border crime but dismissed the report outrightly. "In recent years, law enforcement bodies from China and Afghanistan, in accordance with a bilateral cooperation decision on strengthening border law enforcement, arranged to have joint law enforcement operations in border regions," Yang added. In Afghanistan, a Kabul official also denied the report filed by WION, who asked not to be identified. Independent military analysts had confirmed the images showed Chinese-manufactured military vehicles. ''The pictures show Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) and Humvee-type vehicles. Both appear to be Chinese versions of common Western armoured vehicles,'' said Justin Bronk, a senior analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, in the earlier report. China has long been concerned that instability in Afghanistan will spill over into the violence-prone Xinjiang region. Hundreds have died in the region, which is home to the Muslim Uighur people, in recent years in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants. Beijing is also working with Pakistan and the United States to broker peace talks to end Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency that has raged on for 15 years. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

WION Impact: China dismisses report of military patrols in Afghanistan

China&rsquo;s military on Friday said &ldquo;hostile forces&rdquo; seeking to spread online rumours about the ongoing reform of the Chinese army were having a damaging effect.&nbsp;

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the 2.3 million-strong People&#39;s Liberation Army would lay off 300,000 soldiers,&nbsp;a 13 per cent reduction to the Chinese military.

The layoffs are part of broader reforms to modernise the military, moving away from the old Soviet-era command module and putting more emphasis on high-tech weapons such as stealth jets and anti-satellite missiles or space weapons.&nbsp;

&quot;The broad mass of the armed forces must clearly recognise that in the vast majority of these rumours there are online users unable to distinguish the truth, wantonly lost in fanciful thoughts and conjecture,&quot; the official People&#39;s Liberation Army Daily said via a newspaper story, Reuters reported.

&quot;But there are also no lack of certain hostile forces thinking of ways to try in vain to sow chaos in our reform process,&quot; it added.

&ldquo;These fanciful stories have attracted the attention of many soldiers, some of whom believe what they read,&rdquo; it said.&nbsp;

&quot;Some have been taken in, and worried about personal losses this has affected their work.&quot;

Soldiers have a responsibility not to believe the rumours and only get their news from official sources, the story added, Reuters reported.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Chinese President Xi Jinping unexpectedly announced last September that he would cut 13 per cent of the military

China’s military on Friday said “hostile forces” seeking to spread online rumours about the ongoing reform of the Chinese army were having a damaging effect. Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army would lay off 300,000 soldiers, a 13 per cent reduction to the Chinese military. The layoffs are part of broader reforms to modernise the military, moving away from the old Soviet-era command module and putting more emphasis on high-tech weapons such as stealth jets and anti-satellite missiles or space weapons. "The broad mass of the armed forces must clearly recognise that in the vast majority of these rumours there are online users unable to distinguish the truth, wantonly lost in fanciful thoughts and conjecture," the official People's Liberation Army Daily said via a newspaper story, Reuters reported. "But there are also no lack of certain hostile forces thinking of ways to try in vain to sow chaos in our reform process," it added. “These fanciful stories have attracted the attention of many soldiers, some of whom believe what they read,” it said. "Some have been taken in, and worried about personal losses this has affected their work." Soldiers have a responsibility not to believe the rumours and only get their news from official sources, the story added, Reuters reported. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

China to lay off 300,000 soldiers, replace with stealth jets, space weapons

US prosecutors charged a former Air China employee on Wednesday for smuggling packages onto flights from New York to China on behalf of Chinese military personnel stationed at the country&#39;s UN mission. 
 
The Chinese national was not named by the prosecutors, but his description matches that of Qin Fei of Beijing, who other court records show the FBI has suspected may be involved with Chinese intelligence. 
 
Ying Lin, 46, was also accused in an indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn of obstructing justice by helping a Chinese national the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating to flee the country last year. 
 
Qin&#39;s link to Lin was revealed recently following the filing in court of the FBI&#39;s 2015 interview of Ng Lap Seng, a Macau billionaire accused of participating in a UN bribery and who was also linked to Lin. 
 
In August 2015, Lin was arrested and charged for structuring financial transactions. She pleaded not guilty. 
 
Lin would smuggle packages for Chinese military officials and other nationals working for China&rsquo;s UN delegation through John F Kennedy International Airport, where she worked at that time, onto planes headed to China, prosecutors alleged.&nbsp; 
 
The content of the packages wasn&rsquo;t revealed in the indictment. In return, Lin received duty-free gifts including Apple electronic devices and expensive liquor in violation of New York tax law, according to prosecutors. 
 
The indictment said Lin helped the individual, called her &quot;Confederate&quot;, depart on an Air China flight for Beijing that October 28. 
 
While not named, the indictment said Lin was responsible for renovating and furnishing a Long Island residence the &quot;Confederate&quot; owned. Property records list Lin as an agent for Qin&#39;s $10 million Long Island mansion. 
 
In his FBI interview, Ng discussed Qin&#39;s mansion. He called Qin a consultant at Ng&#39;s company, Sun Kian Ip Group. 
 
Prosecutors have accused Ng of giving John Ashe, who served as UN General Assembly from 2013 to 2014, over $500,000 in bribes to, among other things, support a UN-backed conference center in Macau his company would develop. 
 
Ashe is a former UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda. He died in June awaiting trial. Ng has pleaded not guilty. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

Prosecutors accused the worker of smuggling packages onto flights from New York to China for Chinese military personnel

US prosecutors charged a former Air China employee on Wednesday for smuggling packages onto flights from New York to China on behalf of Chinese military personnel stationed at the country's UN mission. The Chinese national was not named by the prosecutors, but his description matches that of Qin Fei of Beijing, who other court records show the FBI has suspected may be involved with Chinese intelligence. Ying Lin, 46, was also accused in an indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn of obstructing justice by helping a Chinese national the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating to flee the country last year. Qin's link to Lin was revealed recently following the filing in court of the FBI's 2015 interview of Ng Lap Seng, a Macau billionaire accused of participating in a UN bribery and who was also linked to Lin. In August 2015, Lin was arrested and charged for structuring financial transactions. She pleaded not guilty. Lin would smuggle packages for Chinese military officials and other nationals working for China’s UN delegation through John F Kennedy International Airport, where she worked at that time, onto planes headed to China, prosecutors alleged. The content of the packages wasn’t revealed in the indictment. In return, Lin received duty-free gifts including Apple electronic devices and expensive liquor in violation of New York tax law, according to prosecutors. The indictment said Lin helped the individual, called her "Confederate", depart on an Air China flight for Beijing that October 28. While not named, the indictment said Lin was responsible for renovating and furnishing a Long Island residence the "Confederate" owned. Property records list Lin as an agent for Qin's $10 million Long Island mansion. In his FBI interview, Ng discussed Qin's mansion. He called Qin a consultant at Ng's company, Sun Kian Ip Group. Prosecutors have accused Ng of giving John Ashe, who served as UN General Assembly from 2013 to 2014, over $500,000 in bribes to, among other things, support a UN-backed conference center in Macau his company would develop. Ashe is a former UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda. He died in June awaiting trial. Ng has pleaded not guilty. (WION with inputs from agencies)

US charges former Air China worker for smuggling on behalf of Chinese military

China&#39;s military will provide training for Syrian armed forces, a spokesman for Beijing&#39;s defence ministry said Thursday, adding it would take place on Chinese soil. 
 
Beijing is a longstanding backer of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, which has engaged in a bloody war that has left more than 290,000 people dead and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations. 
 
Last week senior Chinese military official Guan Youfei met with Syria&#39;s defence minister in Damascus and said he wanted closer military ties with the Syrian government, state media reported. 
 
&quot;The Chinese military will provide the Syrian side with medical and nursing professional training,&quot; defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters at a monthly briefing. 
 
The training would take place in China, he added, and was intended &quot;to ease the humanitarian crisis in Syria&quot;. 
 
The Chinese military has already provided Syrian authorities with medical equipment and medicines &quot;to help reduce the humanitarian suffering of the Syrian people&quot;, Wu said. 
 
&quot;For a long period of time, China and Syria have helped each other. And China has been pushing for a political solution of the Syrian conflict and we have always supported the independence of Syria,&quot; he added. 
 
As well as supporting Assad&#39;s government, Beijing is close to Moscow, which has carried out strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo, as have Assad&#39;s forces. 
 
After Guan&#39;s visit to Damascus, China&#39;s state broadcaster questioned the authenticity of a harrowing video showing a stunned-looking four-year-old boy covered in blood and dust after an air strike in Aleppo, alleging it may have been faked as part of a Western &quot;propaganda war&quot;. 
 
The footage brought worldwide attention to the plight of children in the bloody siege of the city, and sparked diplomatic disagreement, as Russia denied carrying out the attack, and Chinese media said the group that shot the video had links to the British military. 
 
(AFP)

'The Chinese military will provide the Syrian side with medical and nursing professional training,' a defence ministry spokesman said

China's military will provide training for Syrian armed forces, a spokesman for Beijing's defence ministry said Thursday, adding it would take place on Chinese soil. Beijing is a longstanding backer of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, which has engaged in a bloody war that has left more than 290,000 people dead and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations. Last week senior Chinese military official Guan Youfei met with Syria's defence minister in Damascus and said he wanted closer military ties with the Syrian government, state media reported. "The Chinese military will provide the Syrian side with medical and nursing professional training," defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters at a monthly briefing. The training would take place in China, he added, and was intended "to ease the humanitarian crisis in Syria". The Chinese military has already provided Syrian authorities with medical equipment and medicines "to help reduce the humanitarian suffering of the Syrian people", Wu said. "For a long period of time, China and Syria have helped each other. And China has been pushing for a political solution of the Syrian conflict and we have always supported the independence of Syria," he added. As well as supporting Assad's government, Beijing is close to Moscow, which has carried out strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo, as have Assad's forces. After Guan's visit to Damascus, China's state broadcaster questioned the authenticity of a harrowing video showing a stunned-looking four-year-old boy covered in blood and dust after an air strike in Aleppo, alleging it may have been faked as part of a Western "propaganda war". The footage brought worldwide attention to the plight of children in the bloody siege of the city, and sparked diplomatic disagreement, as Russia denied carrying out the attack, and Chinese media said the group that shot the video had links to the British military. (AFP)

China says its military will train Syrian troops