Humanities and Social Science Research Center

With the successful dive of "Jiaolong" manned submersible till 7020 meters, China now occupies a leading position in this ocean exploration reach. However this development has caused some speculation about the possible military and security implications in Indian Ocean region. The "Jioalong" manned submersible which is said to be for civilian purpose could be used for dual purpose too. The submersible has the capability to intercept undersea communication cables, retrieve foreign weaponry on the ocean floor and repair or rescue submarines.

China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and  the verdict of the Haguebased Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal have made international headlines. In the wake of these developments, China has recently testes its new undersea glider Haiyi-7000 (“Sea Wing”), which is an unmanned Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). In July-August 2016, Haiyi-7000 was deployed in the Mariana Trench (western Pacific
Ocean),  which is the deepest ocean trench of  over  11,034 metres. Haiyi-7000 was launched from China’s submersible mother ship, Tansuo-1. According to South China Morning Post, it was  deployed to a depth of 5,751 metres. It  was developed  by  the Shenyang Institute of automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In the last few decades, given China's growing dependency on the maritime realm, it has shifted its focus from securing borders to the pursuit of national maritime interests. China is overly dependent on the seas for maritime trade, secure energy supply, access to marine resources and access to the resources outside its borders. In this context, deep-sea exploration and capacity building emerge as important indicators of China's growing dependency on and interest in the maritime domain. Beijing's interest in deep-sea exploration and capacity building includes underwater resource exploitation, developing new technology and infrastructure related to deep-sea exploration, and maritime security. Given that China's deep-sea exploration is enmeshed with its larger geostrategic interests outside its borders, it raises a series of concerns for states in its neighbourhood. The military application of these deep-sea technologies is of greatest concern, besides power projection in the regional security domain. This paper seeks to study China's deep-sea exploration and capacity building in the context of technology and infrastructure. The paper covers contested intentions behind China's deep-sea exploration and the implications as well as concerns for China's neighbouring countries.

Taiwan and Tibet enjoy a unique and amicable relationship. With the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan and Taiwan embracing democratic values, both sides have successfully strengthened a relationship that was once at the point of brinkmanship due to the establishment of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission based on China's nationalist frontier policy of five races.

The ICS is an interdisciplinary research institution, which has a leadership role in the promotion of Chinese and East Asian Studies in India. The ICS Analysis aims to encourage debate and provide informed and balanced inputs for policy formulation and is based on extensive research and interactions with a wide community of scholars, experts, diplomats and military personnel in India and abroad. Abstract The outbreak of coronavirus crisis hit one of the linchpins sectors of the global economy that is the tourism sector. The imperative to impose travel restriction to combat the spread of the virus had put tourism sector in halt. Tourism economy may not be one of the key contributors to the national GDP growth, but the sector constitutes one of the vital sources of employment, especially those of the informal sector. While the rest of the world and China continue with the travel restriction, the Tibet Autonomous Region of China was the first province to reopen tourist centre as early as March 2020. The region received millions of domestic tourist during the Mid Autumn Festival and the National Day Holiday regardless of the concern over the spread of coronavirus. One can see the urgency in the reopening of the regional tourism economy. The paper attempts to examine that urgency, through which it explores the tourism sector of the TAR and its contribution to provincial GDP share and employment share.

Tibetan Buddhist monks continue to face visa restrictions from the Taiwan government. I argue that this resulted from the nexus of two factors: the first concern is the national security concern and the second is the concern of the refugee overstaying. This paper further highlights how Tibetan Buddhist monks are treated indifferently compared with other religions because of the above-mentioned concerns. It underscores what kinds of challenges Tibetan Buddhist monks face in Taiwan, especially in the context of border control policy. The paper also covers how the government in Taiwan arbitrarily discards the nationality of Tibetan Buddhist monks who are citizens of India, Nepal, and Bhutan and treated them the same as the stateless. Therefore, Taiwan's treatment of Tibetan Buddhist monks is a serious violation of human rights. Tibetan Buddhist monks continue to face challenges from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.