China: The Great Irredentist, With Demands Coming To A Border Near You

The northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh has long been claimed, by China, as part of Tibet (although when Tibet was an independent nation a century ago, it agreed that Arunachal Pradesh was part of India). Arunachal Pradesh has a population of about a million people, spread among 84,000 mountainous square kilometers. This is not an area of great apparent value. China and India fought a nasty little war over Arunachal Pradesh in 1962.

Since the conclusion of the Sino-Indian War, India has looked more to Pakistan than China as a threat, but that is rapidly changing. Recently, China began improving the military support infrastructure on its side of the border. Additionally, Chinese troops have crossed the border into Indian territory and built small structures. India is responding accordingly.

Why does China claim this little bit of India? Because it was once part of Tibet, and Tibet was once part of China, and now is again. As far as China is concerned, if any square inch of another country was ever part of China, it must be re-absorbed into China. To ensure there would be no ambiguity in the case of Tibet, China invaded in 1950, and has spent the last sixty years destroying Tibetan culture, primarily by destroying the Tibetan religious infrastructure, and re-settling hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese in Tibet. As in China itself, the Han Chinese are coming to dominate, whether they are in the majority or not. China also spends a great deal of time "proving" that there never really was a Tibetan culture, and that Tibetans are now better off than they ever were before.

The Tibet situation can seem a bit silly (to everyone except Tibetans) when it's pressed before the public by such Hollywood buffoons as Richard Gere, but it is illustrative of a larger issue that the international community will be facing, whether it wants to or not, in the next few decades.

China has major claims to many of its neighbor's territory, and to international maritime territory. While it may attempt to enforce some of these claims via international legal bodies, China will be pleased to enforce its claims by force if it considers the costs low enough. What would the gains be? That may be difficult for westerners to understand. China is one of the great victim cultures of the modern era. She is convinced that the only reason that every bit of territory that was ever hers is not still hers lies in her victimization by western colonial powers. She knows that, no matter what she may do to recover what she believes is hers, the west will eventually accept her conquests if she just holds on long enough. As a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, no Chinese misdeed, however grievous, will ever come before that august, if hapless body. There can be no sanctions on China. Where would we get our cell phones and toaster ovens?

Chinese claims are not well understood by most westerners. Online research suggests that, aside from the Taiwan and Arunachal Pradesh claims, few westerners are aware of the extent of Chinese claims, many of which rely on ancient history, and conflict with settled international law. Given China's rising military power, lack of respect for the rule of law, status as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, role as primary manufacturer of much of our technical infrastructure, and initiator of several major information warfare attacks on the United States, perhaps we should be a little concerned, no?

Here are a few areas of concern:

Area: Taiwan
Counter Party: Republic of Taiwan

Area: Arunachal Pradesh
Counter Party: India

Area: Koguryo
Counter Party: North Korea

Area:Various
Counter Party: Vietnam (this has been "settled" twice - watch for more)

Area: South China Sea
Counter Party: All Bordering Nations

China essentially claims the entire South China Sea, up to the territorial waters of all other coastal nations. This would contravene current international law and treaties. China claims a long standing historical claim. The British, based on their colonial period, may have a more compelling claim (only kidding).

Good places to search for Chinese territorial claims are maps in current textbooks, and current postage stamps. Both carefully reflect official policy of the one party state.