Tibet Federation of Industry and Commerce\/WeChat<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n No place anybody would choose<\/h2>\n
Chinese construction that began in the Jakurlung valley in 2016 has ramped up since last year relative to earlier periods, according to the research by SOAS\u2019s Barnett, based on satellite imagery. <\/p>\n
As of this summer, more than 2,000 residential units \u2013 estimated to have space for thousands of people \u2013 had been built in multiple settlements across both areas, according to the report. <\/p>\n
That buildup has also been supported by an expanding network of roads, which geointelligence researcher Damien Symon says have progressed south from China into Bhutan over recent years. <\/p>\n
\u201cNone of the roads connect into Bhutan, they start from the Chinese border and end in forest areas. There is no connectivity to existing Bhutanese roads or villages,\u201d said Symon, of analysis collective The Intel Lab, who in a December 2023 report for London-based think tank Chatham House tracked new Chinese construction \u201cacross the contested border with Bhutan\u201d in the north. <\/p>\n
Road access is crucial for new settlements in the Jakarlung valley, which Chinese reports say used to be cut off from the outside world by heavy snow for half the year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not places anybody would normally choose to relocate to, because they are either extremely high or extremely exposed to the elements,\u201d Barnett said. <\/p>\n
To populate the cold, damp valley, officials in Tibet entice settlers from across the region with spacious new homes and generous subsidies. <\/p>\n
In Jieluobu, the Tibetan herders moved into two-story houses with courtyards. Residents aged 16 and older are eligible for an annual subsidy of more than 20,000 yuan (about $2,800), state media reported. <\/p>\n
Patriotic education is part of everyday life in Jieluobu. In 2021, the village held 150 study sessions on Xi\u2019s speeches, party policies and history, Mandarin Chinese and border defense, state media reported. Since then, the village has also undergone a major expansion. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the southeastern part of the valley, Demalong has added 235 new homes since last year and aims to build a kindergarten and a clinic, according to government statements. It also has a military compound, the travel blogger\u2019s video shows. <\/p>\n
Since late September, a new wave of residents has moved into Demalong, Jieluobu, Semalong and Qujielong from as far as Nagqu, a city in northern Tibet some seven hours\u2019 drive away, according to a local government notice and videos shared by relocatees on Chinese social media. <\/p>\n
The new families, arriving in long columns of vans, coaches and trucks escorted by police cars, were greeted by red banners and traditional Tibetan dances, social media footage shows. <\/p>\n
Bhutan has repeatedly denied that Chinese construction has taken place in its territory. <\/p>\n
Asked in March last year about reports of China building in the kingdom\u2019s north, then-Prime Minister Lotay Tshering told Belgian outlet La Libre, \u201cWe are not making a big deal of it because it\u2019s not in Bhutan.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have said categorically that there is no intrusion as mentioned in the media,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is an international border and we know exactly what belongs to us.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a separate interview with India\u2019s The Hindu about six months later, the former prime minister, whose government was replaced in elections earlier this year, reiterated that \u201cthere are no real differences between China and Bhutan, but there is an un-demarcated border dating back to Tibet-Bhutan ties,\u201d referring to the period before Tibet\u2019s 1951 official annexation by Beijing. <\/p>\n
As early as 2020, Bhutan\u2019s ambassador to India said there was \u201cno Chinese village inside Bhutan,\u201d following Indian media reports about such development in the kingdom\u2019s western borderlands. <\/p>\n
That appears to be in sharp contrast to recent decades when Bhutan repeatedly protested what it claimed were incursions into its territory by Chinese soldiers and Tibetan herders. In 1997, Thimphu told Beijing that Tibetan herdsmen had been intruding into the Jakarlung valley and even constructed sheds there, according to Bhutan\u2019s National Assembly records cited by Barnett. <\/p>\n
In a 1998 pact, the two countries agreed to maintain the status quo in the border region as they continue talks to resolve the \u201cboundary question.\u201d <\/p>\n
Observers say Bhutan\u2019s rhetoric on this issue has become increasingly opaque in recent years, and some wonder whether the kingdom\u2019s muted comments are because it\u2019s already reached a tacit understanding with China to give up some territorial claims. <\/p>\n
Others suggest Bhutan\u2019s priority may be to keep relations stable so they can finally reach a deal \u2013 with the potential to ease the uncertainty of the countries\u2019 power imbalance and bring the economic benefits of normalized ties. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost Bhutanese would love to see the borders demarcated and settled and a new chapter of friendly relations with China,\u201d said Bhutanese scholar Karma Phuntsho. <\/p>\n
But while Bhutan remains \u201ckeen to solve the border issues with China,\u201d the remote border areas have little impact on Bhutanese peoples\u2019 livelihoods, so, \u201cthe countries are taking time to reach the best mutually beneficial solutions,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Other observers take a more pointed view. <\/p>\n
The Bhutanese \u201chave realized that they have no way in which they can get back anything which the Chinese have occupied, and they lack the capacity \u2026 to police the border, let alone the military capacity to retrieve anything from the border,\u201d said Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo at one level, they have taken the position that they will try and resolve the border issue \u2026 pending that settlement, they don\u2019t want anything to come up.\u201d <\/p>\n
Despite the negotiations over the decades, the kingdom has already shed land to China. <\/p>\n
Bhutan\u2019s official maps have lost a parcel of land to its northwest and the Menchuma valley and plateau in its northeast, according to Barnett. <\/strong>That northwest parcel, which includes Kula Kangri mountain, is often cited as covering some 400 square kilometers (154 sq miles). <\/p>\n \u201cThese areas fall north to the traditional boundary between Bhutan and China,\u201d its statement said. <\/p>\n