Asymmetrical Threat Perceptions in India–China Relations, by Tien-sze Fang

Tien-sze Fang’s Asymmetrical Threat Perceptions in India–China Relations makes a comparative study of the threat perceptions of the two countries vis-à-vis each other. The book endorses the view that although both the countries have security concerns from each other, the threat perception in India is far more acute than in China. This asymmetry defines the relations between the two countries. Treating historical enmity ‘as a fixed source of perceived threat’, Fang considers the 1962 border war between the two countries as ‘a fixed’ and ‘the main source of India’s perceived threat from China’. Fang argues that such a threat perception is not easily erased. Historical enmity keeps raising its head and shapes and reshapes threat perceptions in various ways. It would be interesting to study as to how the memories of the war have shaped India’s threat perception over the decades since 1962.