How China is grabbing land in Bhutan amid border talks

Even as China and Bhutan have ramped up efforts to resolve their border dispute, it has not stopped Beijing from continuing construction activities in the small kingdom’s north. According to British think tank Chatham House’s report, the Asian giant has built outposts in Bhutan’s remote Jakarlung Valley, part of the Beyul Khenpajong region. The report comes against the backdrop of Beijing and Thimphu vowing to conclude boundary talks “as soon as possible” and working to establish diplomatic relations between the two nations. How is China making inroads in Bhutan? Let’s take a closer look. China’s territorial advances in Bhutan According to Chatham House, satellite imagery from September revealed that China has an under-construction settlement and an “extensive road network” in Jakarlung Valley. As per Maxar images, at least 129 buildings, presumably residential quarters in one settlement, and more than 60 buildings in a second enclave nearby are being built by China in the valley, reported NDTV. These structures did not exist did not exist in August 2021. Speaking to The World Today, Robert Barnett, a Tibet expert at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, said: “There have been two major waves of [Chinese] construction in the Jakarlung. We know that the Chinese authorities are energetically recruiting Tibetans to move to these new locations and putting a lot of money into major construction efforts there.” Barnett told NDTV, “This is a case of China making a claim to an area, based on earlier grazing practices by herders, that is very recent and without precedent – and then unilaterally seizing the territory and settling it with villages, military barracks and outposts”. “Jakarlung adjoins the Beyul Khenpajong, which is an important cultural and religious area for the Bhutanese. So this case represents China making a very recent, doubtful claim about an area that is of great cultural significance to a far less powerful neighbour, knowing that neighbour has few if any options as to its response,” he added. The development comes amid previous reports that Beijing was carrying out construction in northern Bhutan’s Menchuma Valley, which lies 1.2 miles (approximately 1.9 km) to the east of the Beyul. Bhutanese herders and Royal Bhutanese Army patrols have allegedly been denied access to the valley. As per Foreign Policy’s report in 2021, the entire Menchuma Valley and most of the Beyul were being controlled by China. Since 2015, Beijing set up three villages, seven roads, and at least five military or police outposts in the Beyul and the Menchuma Valley, the report added. China also reportedly deployed its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops in or near the settlements in these areas. [caption id=“attachment_13489922” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Troops from China’s PLA is reportedly present near Bhutan’s Menchuma Valley and Beyul. AP (Representational Image)[/caption] After India’s standoff with China in 2017 over Doklam plateau, Beijing has also built at least three villages along Bhutan’s Amu Chu River Valley. Notably, Bhutan is likely to concede the land grabbed by China in Jakarlung Valley and the neighbouring Menchuma Valley as part of the border deal expected to be announced soon, reported Chatham House. China-Bhutan talks Bhutan and China have held 25 rounds of boundary talks so far, with both sides ready to conclude negotiations and advance the process to set up official diplomatic ties. In October, the then Bhutanese prime minister Lotay Tshering told The Hindu, “We hope to see a line being drawn – this side Bhutan and that side China.” Bhutan and China initiated boundary talks in 1984 and have since focused on mainly three disputed areas — Jakarlung and Pasamlung areas in north Bhutan, and the Doklam area in west Bhutan. Newsweek reported in November that a joint technical team from Bhutan and China will work on “demarcating” the disputed territories that are to be “exchanged on the ground”. In his interview with The Hindu, Tshering had not rejected the possibility of a land swap between Bhutan and China as part of the border deal. ALSO READ: China, Bhutan to end boundary talks at earliest: Why this is a worry for India Why does it matter to India? New Delhi is worried that a deal between Thimphu and Beijing could include swapping Doklam – located close to the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China – for disputed territories in the north. India considers the Doklam plateau as an undisputed territory of Bhutan, whereas, Beijing regards it as an extension of its Chumbi Valley, which lies between Sikkim and Bhutan. The plateau is close to the strategically important Siliguri Corridor, which connects the Indian mainland to the Northeast. The corridor also links India with Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. [caption id=“attachment_13489972” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Smoke billows from machinery at a road construction site in Bhutan, 14 December 2017. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Any deal between China and Bhutan will have implications for India. New Delhi has a “special relationship” with Thimphu, with India guiding Bhutan’s foreign policy until as recently as 2007. Now, with Thimphu and Beijing close to a border deal and likely establishment of diplomatic ties, India is wary of the developments. According to Chatham House, “New Delhi would be concerned that, in the event of a deal demarcating Bhutan’s northern border, attention may turn to territory in Bhutan’s west which China disputes, including the Doklam plateau.” ‘‘Bhutan is slowly shifting towards the strategic orbit of China and there is not much that India can do, except if a new security agreement is signed between Delhi and Thimphu,’’ the renowned Tibetologist Claude Arpi told NDTV. With inputs from agencies