News + Media

According to Fravel, the old Chinese maps "do not show Sakteng or nearby areas in Bhutan as Chinese territory". (Photo: Twitter/fravel)

In the News

July 8, 2020

History contradicts new Chinese claims over Bhutan's territory

India Today BureauIndia Today

M Taylor Fravel heavily quoted: Past Chinese maps, put out by prominent China expert and Director of the MIT Security Studies Program M Taylor Fravel, suggest that China has acknowledged the area as Bhutanese territory in the past. According to Fravel, the old Chinese maps “do not show Sakteng or nearby areas in Bhutan as Chinese territory”.

CNBC TV18 Interview Screen Shot with Experts

In the News

July 6, 2020

India-China agree to disengage at Galwan Valley; experts discuss the road ahead

Parikshit LuthraCNBC-TV18

After a 60 day long confrontation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India and China have agreed to disengage and deescalate tensions at the LAC. Vipin Narang is among the experts who discuss the road ahead.

White House with US flag waving in front of it

In the News

July 3, 2020

Trump slams China’s pattern of aggression

Yashwant RajHindustan Times

Vipin Narang heavily quoted:  Narang said that one of the Trump administration’s foreign policy “bright spots” have been its relationship with India, and his personal bonhomie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “That does not mean that the relationship is all roses, but there is a lot of sympathy and friendship toward India, across both parties and especially the Trump administration which has remained silent on domestic issues that some members of the Democratic Party have expressed concern about...”

Military vehicles with armed solders inside

In the News

July 3, 2020

First China, now Pakistan: How India's battling on two fronts

Sudhi Ranjan SenBloomberg | Quint

Vipin Narang heavily quoted: “But my general sense is that Pakistan may feel like it needs to show resolve at home and to India in Jammu & Kashmir” after India changed the province's consitutional status in August last year, Narang said.  Islamabad may “also be opportunistically taking advantage of India's distraction and focus on the LAC.”

Mountain range between India and China

Analysis + Opinion

July 2, 2020

India's Pangong pickle: New Delhi's options after its clash with China

Christopher Clary and Vipin NarangWar on the Rocks

India was surprised by the scale of China’s incursions and was initially caught unprepared. It now faces the difficult challenge of trying to restore the status quo.

Annie Gordon, left, Gabrielle Rene, center, and Jenny Clark, right, rally for protection from evictions Saturday, June 27, 2020, in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston. Massachusetts' tenant eviction moratorium is slated to expire in mid-August. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

In the News

June 28, 2020

Report: Boston minority communities hit hardest by evictions

Michael CaseyAP News

Justin Steil quoted: “The results are very troubling,” said Justin Steil, an associate professor of law and urban planning at MIT who authored the report with MIT researcher David Robinson. “It suggest that above and beyond income, housing cost measures that race continues to play a significant role in evictions,” he said. “We see white supremacy and anti-blackness functioning in the housing markets as well as other areas of social life.”

A military parade in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing last year.Credit...Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

In the News

June 26, 2020

China’s military provokes its neighbors, but the message is for the United States

Steven Lee MyersThe New York Times

M Taylor Fravel quoted: “When China views it is being challenged in these other sovereignty disputes in this era, it will respond with a very tough line.  China never had the ability to assert itself in the maritime domain until really in the last 10 or 15 years,” Mr Fravel said, noting the steady buildup of China’s naval and air forces. He added, “That has enabled China to press its claims in the East and South China Sea more than before.”

Chinese soldiers patrol the border with India

Analysis + Opinion

June 26, 2020

China’s sovereignty obsession

M Taylor FravelForeign Affairs

Beijing and New Delhi are now attempting to de-escalate tensions, but they have sent reinforcements to the border and eye each other warily. The series of events that led to the clash seems to have begun with China’s move into a portion of the Galwan Valley, raising questions about Chinese motives. Provoking India could push New Delhi to pursue closer ties with Washington at a time when US-Chinese relations are on a downward spiral. 

Head shots of Suzanne Berger, Peter Krause, Yasheng Huang, Chap Lawson on globe map background

In the News

June 25, 2020

When culture clashes with Covid-19

MIT News Office

To what extent are different responses attributable to the “culture” of each country? And how much have widespread social norms affected the responses of different countries during the Covid-19 pandemic?

A satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a road under construction near the Line of Actual Control, the border between India and China, June 22, 2020.  (Maxar Technologies via AP) A satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a road under construction near the Line of Actual Control, the border between India and China, June 22, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

In the News

June 24, 2020

India reinforces contested region as China holds ground, sources say

French Press Agency (AFP)

Vipin Narang quoted: “There may be some short-term public backlash against China in India, but publicly, Pakistan swamps China as a perceived threat,” said Vipin Narang, a security specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  “The effects of this crisis, even if it slow burns, may be short-lived amongst India's public. And cheap TVs are still cheap TVs.”

Pages