China is rapidly building infrastructure on its border with Bhutan near a strategically located Himalayan plateau where Indian and Chinese troops were at loggerheads three years ago. China is also asserting new territorial claims to a wildlife park in Bhutan, raising renewed concerns that Beijing is pushing its boundaries in the Himalayas.
Satellite imagery produced by U.S. satellite operator Maxar Technologies shows construction facilities near the Doklam Plateau. China and Bhutan both claim the Doklam Plateau, which is also of strategic importance to India.
Apparently, this year there has been a lot of construction activity throughout the Torsa River valley, with a lot of road construction/building activity going on, and new military bunkers being built in China near the Doklam area,” the Marsal Technology statement said.
The construction work includes a new village, which some analysts who have studied satellite imagery say is located within Bhutan’s claimed territory. However, both Bhutan and China have denied the matter.
Vetsop Namgyel, Bhutan’s ambassador to India, said, “The satellite imagery shows the new Chinese village within Chinese territory, not Bhutanese territory.”
Still, analysts believe that the construction of the facility will help China strengthen its position in the disputed region.
Manoj Joshi, a foreign policy analyst at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, said, “Looking at these activities, it is clear that China is consolidating its position in the area that they claim, which is the Donglang region. They are building roads, they are building villages in forested areas that are simply unsustainable. By doing so, they are creating a fait accompli on the ground. It’s the same as what they are doing in the South China Sea and other places.”
India’s opposition to China’s construction of roads on the Bhutanese side led to a tense two-and-a-half-month standoff with the Chinese military in 2017. The two sides withdrew separately after Beijing agreed to maintain the status quo in the region.
New Delhi had intervened on Bhutan’s behalf to prevent China from taking control of the plateau, which sits high above a narrow strip of land that connects India to the northeastern states.
According to Joshi, “Donglang was not the victory that many in India were claiming at the time.” China’s push into the Himalayas, Joshi believes, is part of a larger strategy to try to gain dominance in South Asia.
Beyond Donglang, India and Bhutan are also concerned about a new issue, China’s surprising claim to vast tracts of Bhutan’s wildlife reserves.
This summer, when Bhutan applied to the U.S. Global Environment Facility (GEF) for funding for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Chinese representatives objected on the grounds that the area was disputed territory. This caught Bhutan off guard.
Bhutan rejected China’s claim, but at the same time was shocked by China’s move because the area had never been discussed during previous negotiations between the two countries over the disputed territory.
Bhutanese historian Karma Phuntsho said, “According to all our records, Saketeng has always been our territory.
The territory claimed by China is larger than any other disputed area. Since 1986, the two countries have held 24 rounds of negotiations on the issue of territorial boundaries.
Analysts believe that China’s move is an attempt to increase its advantage in the territorial dispute with India. The Sakten Reserve is connected to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of the southern Tibetan region.
A Bhutanese analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggests that the issue of Sakhten may have been raised as a tactic to pressure Bhutan, which respects India’s position on China. And Bhutan, respecting India’s sensitivity to China, has so far not conceded to Beijing on the issue of Donglang.
He said, “All official maps of China also show Saketeng as part of Bhutan.” Traditionally, Bhutan has been a close ally of India.
However, for this small country of 750,000 people, which remains isolated from the world, the rivalry between India and China is raising new concerns for Bhutan.
Bhutanese historian Phuntsho says, “Bhutan has to be vigilant and step by step with these geopolitical games, and we are worried about being drawn into the tensions between our region, and we are wary of their strategic maneuvering.”
Tensions between China and India are at their highest in decades, with both sides involved in a tense military standoff on the other side of the Himalayas in eastern India. Both countries have deployed tens of thousands of soldiers on the icy peaks due to a disputed border dispute.
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