China builds villages in lands disputed with Himalayan Bhutan. India is worried

China is expanding into the disputed areas of the Himalayas, also giving houses and building villages which are then given to its poorest citizens. In a remote Himalayan village, within a long-disputed border area between China and Bhutan, 18 new Chinese residents were waiting to enter their newly built homes.

They each carried a newly framed portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping, large enough to leave only his head and lower legs exposed, while behind them a bright red banner welcomed them in Chinese and Tibetan.

It was December 28 and they were the first group of people – made up of 38 families from the Tibetan city of Shigatse – to move to the recently expanded Tamalung village, the Tibetan Federation of Industry and Trade said on WeChat.

The village is one of at least three built by China within the disputed area.

Last year, local governments in the Tibet Autonomous Region began a rapid expansion of border villages: Tamalung will double its size in the second half of 2023. The satellite images – taken by US-based Maxar Technologies seven days before the move of residents – show 147 new homes.

According to local media, the village expansion was designed to accommodate 235 families, in addition to the 200 people who lived in just 70 houses at the end of 2022. In the end there are few who want to move to these remote areas.

The villages were part of China's state-led poverty alleviation program to provide better living conditions, but have become "citadels" to strengthen national security, officials said.

Lhozhag County, which administers Tamalung, spent about 26 million yuan ($3.6 million) on village infrastructure, according to its 2023 funding report on poverty alleviation.

The appropriation financed the strengthening of a stream embankment, two bridges and the asphalting of roads. Satellite images show that the work was completed in six months.

Bhutan's capital, Thimphu, has so far downplayed the disputes posed by these villages, but its closest partner, India, is keeping a close eye on developments in the disputed border area, which covers around 495 km² ( 191 square miles).

East of Tamalung, another border village, Gyalaphug, doubled in size last year after about 16 square km

According to Chinese state media, Gyalaphug was founded in 2007 with just two houses and no water or electricity. From 2016-18, it was transformed into a model village under President Xi Jinping's "moderate prosperity" poverty reduction campaign.
The People's Daily reported that more than 620 "moderate prosperity border villages" had been created by the end of 2021, a deadline set by Xi for the party's 100-year goal of alleviating poverty in the country.
Local officials and state media have described the villages' dual function – providing modern housing and defending the border – as the brainchild of party leaders.

Why are these villages so important

Lhozhag County Party Secretary Zhao Tianwu told his officials in 2020 that “moderate prosperity villages” in border areas must be promoted as a demonstration of special attention from the party leadership.
He further said that Xi's ideology on border governance and "stabilizing Tibet" is the core of village politics. Xi raised Tibet's national security role in 2013, during his first parliamentary session as party leader.

When you build villages and give away houses for the inhabitants, then there are consequences. Among other things, those who move here receive, in addition to the house, a contribution of 12,800 Yuan, around 1780 Euros and therefore have an incentive, in these poor border areas, to defend China, writing Chinese property on the rocks, for example . Then building villages means building roads and infrastructures which, obviously, belong to Beijing and which therefore do not assert sovereignty

Bhutan turns a deaf ear, India worries

Bhutan and China have no formal relations, but have held border talks since 1984, achieving partial progress on some territorial disagreements over the years. In 1998 they agreed to avoid unilateral changes to the border status quo.
Why Bhutan's tilt towards China could "significantly change" regional dynamics
October 29, 2023.

Furthermore, the foreign ministries of the two countries held the 25th round of official border talks in October , seven years after they last met in 2016.

Last March, then-Prime Minister Lotay Tshering told the Belgian newspaper La Libre that the villages were not built on Bhutanese soil and that his government had not made "a drama" out of it. The current Bhutan government is not an opponent of Beijing, despite the country being traditionally close to India. Furthermore, Bhutan knows very well that it is a small state between two giants. He will never do anything to harm India, but what can he do about Beijing?

Tshering said China and Bhutan were nearing the end of their "three-step roadmap" to resolve the dispute: from marking the border on paper, to visiting the demarcated area, to formally declaring the agreed border. . Then he lost the elections last May, but his successor Tobgay confirmed his path in foreign policy.

India fears Bhutan will cede land to China. Can a visit from a king calm your nerves?

Although Bhutan depends on India for trade and investment, New Delhi has not dictated Thimphu's foreign policy since 2007, when both countries agreed to give Bhutan a more independent say in its external affairs.
But New Delhi “has been very cautious” about a possible border agreement and formal diplomatic ties between Beijing and Thimphu, according to an editorial in The Hindu newspaper in October. Now the king of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is expected to go to Delhi for a visit during which, probably, the problems of relations with China will be discussed.

Nitasha Kaul, a professor of international relations specializing in Bhutan at the University of Westminster, noted that Bhutanese diplomacy has always been calm, patient and sensitive to the interests of its neighbors.
“It is also important to respect the position of the Bhutanese on their interests, instead of speaking on behalf of Bhutan as the international media sometimes does,” he said.

While land swaps cannot be ruled out in any negotiations, it is difficult to make specific assumptions on the border issue, Kaul said, adding that the deep-rooted rivalry between India and China makes resolving the dispute "existentially important" for Bhutan.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond when asked whether it was consulted before Tibetan authorities proceeded with the villages, nor whether their presence would be detrimental to border negotiations. The Bhutanese counterpart also did not respond to a request for comment.
But while officials continue to hold border talks, Lhozhag County has already announced in its 2023 annual report its intention to further expand Gyalaphug and Tamalung villages into towns.

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The article China builds villages in lands disputed with Himalayan Bhutan. India's worries come from Economic Scenarios .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-costruisce-villaggi-nelle-terre-contese-col-bhutan-himalaiano-lindia-si-preooccupa/ on Mon, 19 Feb 2024 06:15:15 +0000.