A former Minister of State of External Affairs for India is calling for government officials to reevaluate India's support of the "One China" policy because China does not support the "One India" policy. Omar Abdullah previously served as the chief minister for Jammu and Kashmir, a region that has been the subject of a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan for decades.
In May, China refused to attend a G20 meeting in Srinagar, a city in the Kashmir region, Outlook India reported.
“China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. "We will not attend such meetings."
Last week, Abdullah told members of the media that China's position on the disputed region should spur Indian officials to reconsider their support of China's claims over Hong Kong, Tibet and Taiwan, Telegraph India reported.
"I think it's extremely unfortunate that the government of India keeps repeating its (adherence to) One China policy yet for some reason, China doesn't reciprocate," Abdullah said. "Our foreign policy should always be based on reciprocity. If China doesn't accept a One India policy, then why should India accept One China policy? It shouldn't be one-sided that only China can raise questions about what happens in India and not vice versa."
U.S.-China experts have called on Washington to implement reciprocal policies between the two nations. Chad Wolf, a former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and executive director of the America First Policy Institute, said in an interview with Federal Newswire that student visas are one area in which the U.S. should seek reciprocity.
"I think there's a number of things that Congress and policymakers can look at when we talk about China," Wolf said in the interview. "It goes back to this theme of reciprocity. Let's look at the student visas they give Americans to study in China. It's every six months or it's every nine months, and then you have to go in and talk with a communist official. They’re going to ask a hundred questions to try to get some intelligence out of you. Why aren't we doing the same?"
Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, said publishing and media is another area in which Americans do not get the same treatment from China that the U.S. gives to Chinese individuals.
"If the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post is going to publish an op-ed by a Chinese ambassador, it should say it right up front, ‘Because we value freedom of expression and want to have a full public debate and understand the views of other countries, we welcome this essay by the Chinese ambassador.’ But Ambassador Nick Burns would never be allowed to print an uncensored piece in The People’s Daily," Daly said in an interview with Federal Newswire. "If the Chinese ambassador gives a speech, he should be asked right up front, ‘Could an American ambassador give a speech to a group of this kind and have it reported on freely in China?’ Answer, no."
