'China's borderland disputes are a tactic to win concessions on wider issues with its neighbours'

Those issues are now arguably most acute with nuclear-armed India, as the two Asian giants take opposite sides in an emerging New Cold War, it read.

The article has been written at a time when Indian and Chinese soldiers were engaged in a serious border clash earlier this year, heightening tension between the two neighbours.

The clash left 20 Indian soldiers killed while the casualty on the side of China was not disclosed by the communist nation.

China isn’t picking disputes with only small, less powerful neighbors. A border dispute in China’s north led to a brief war in 1969 with the then Soviet Union. Ostensibly, the conflict was over some islands on the Ussuri River, but it was really about China flexing its muscles against what was then its main adversary and rival within the communist camp, the Asia Times opinion piece said.

Speaking on the current border dispute with India, it said Chinese may not be interested in escalating the situation, but nor are they clearly looking for a final and permanent solution to the dispute.

In reality, border disputes are how China flexes its regional hegemony and wins diplomatic leverage in wider negotiations with its various neighbors.

And while tensions may flare up from time to time, the disputes are seldom actually about territory but rather an expression of power in a worldview where China sees itself as the Middle Kingdom, the opinion piece said.