An empty road in the Bhutanese capital during a blockade to prevent COVID-19, Aug. 13, 2020.
Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins University, said the recent media revelation that the Chinese Communist Party is “creating villages” in Bhutan is a “21st century land grab” similar to the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy to control the South China Sea. The strategy is similar to the Chinese Communist Party’s control of the South China Sea, which is to change the international order through a “fait accompli” and avoid major conflicts with its neighbors or the United States.
Foreign Policy magazine reported on May 7 that the Chinese Communist Party has built previously unnoticed roads, buildings and military posts in Bhutan since 2015. The report said the construction is a move by the Chinese Communist Party to strengthen the Tibetan border and enhance its influence over India.
U.S. foreign policy scholar Hal Brands, a Bloomberg columnist, wrote on Sunday (May 16) that the Communist Party’s move gives the world a “glimpse of what a 21st century land grab might look like.
Beijing’s strategy, he said, is also “favored by countries that want to change the international order but are not yet ready to confront it head-on.
It is unclear whether the Bhutanese government is aware that the Chinese Communist Party has actually invaded its borders, or if Bhutan is aware of the aggression but is unable to respond.
“Prior to 1945, it was more common to see the direct, blatant conquest of entire countries; just think of how many times Poland was wiped off the map by powerful nations.” Blanz writes, “However, since World War II, only one internationally recognized country, South Vietnam, has disappeared as a result of military aggression.”
When North Korea tried to conquer South Korea, or when Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq and temporarily annexed Kuwait, he said, the international community, led by the United States, has stepped in to stop and restore the status quo.
Branz believes that the key to peace is the post-World War II “Pax Americana” (also translated as “Peace in America”).
The “Pax Americana” refers to the relatively peaceful status quo in the world, led by the United States since World War II in 1945. Rooted in military alliances and forward deployments, “American rule” has provided unprecedented security to major regions of the globe. Socialist countries such as the Communist Party of China, finding it difficult to openly confront the U.S.-backed status quo, began to adopt a more roundabout approach to aggression.
As Georgia State University scholar Dan Altman’s research shows, Branz points out that since 1945, limited land grabs, in which an aggressor quickly or covertly seizes a small piece of land, have occurred more often.
“The Chinese Communist Party has adopted a piecemeal, encroaching approach to controlling the South China Sea, taking a series of actions, such as building an artificial island here and forcibly seizing a coral reef there, as a way to change the status quo and avoid triggering a major conflict with its neighbors or Washington.” He wrote.
Beijing has recently used such aggressive methods frequently, for example: covertly sending troops into terrain that India or Bhutan find difficult to access, using the maritime police force to apply sustained low-level military pressure, and testing Japan’s control of the Diaoyu Islands.
Branz writes, “The Chinese Communist Party’s sneaky aggression in Bhutan makes a joke of its assurance that it will never pursue hegemony or expansion.”
He says that China and Russia are not willing to be bound by U.S. alliances and military power, but simply fear the consequences of aggressive behavior. Land grabs in Ukraine, the South China Sea and even the Himalayas are troubling in themselves. More worrisome is the expansion of China and Russia in gray areas, which suggests that this fear is slowly waning.
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