China throwing punches, provoking neighbours: Expert on Ladakh standoff

China is "throwing punches" and provoking neighbours at a time when everyone expected that it would renounce confrontation and focus on the economy, a top former US diplomat on Asian affairs has said in the wake of escalating border tensions between India and China.

Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel, were killed in the clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two countries.

"China is throwing punches and provoking its neighbours at a time when