After the 2017 China–India border standoff at Doklam, an article in "Qunzhong" (mouthpiece magazine of CCP's Jiangsu provincial party standing committee) invoked the "five fingers" construct. The article, which was written by Nanjing University researcher Liu Litao, alleged that India's covert support to the Tibetan independence movement stems from the fact that it was impossible to fully control the "five finers" that India had allegedly taken away without the "palm". The Tibetan culture was said to be the "centripetal force" on the "five fingers". The article added that as China's investments, trade, and economic relations with these regions increase, the Chinese influence in these regions will overtake that of India and will eliminate it to a "great extent".