• Xinjiang has significant deposits of oil, gas, and coal; the province covers 1/6 of China and contains a desert used for nuclear testing.

• As former Soviet Turkic-speaking states became independent, Uighurs in Xinjiang found themselves under greater repression: brutality, torture, random killings.    

• The government moved millions of Han Chinese to the area and insisted on assimilation.  

• Some half-million Uighurs  fled in exile to central Asian republics, and made contact with Muslim radicals from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Kashmir.  

• In June, 2000  reports surfaced that Arab terrorists supporting the Uighurs planned terrorist attacks in Hong Kong on PRC institutions such as the Bank of China and China Travel Services.  

China took  Tibet by force in 1962 and periodically faces resistance.  More than one  Dalai Lama (leader of Tibetan Buddhists) has fled to India.  

Tibet or Xizang map

Western disputed border

Arunachal - eastern dispute 

With Tajikistan - most of border

With Russia - two sections (despite 1997 boundary agreement;  
 

With India -

• In 1962 China moved troops in and claimed an area west of Tibet at the Siachen glacier.   (In the "overview" map this is orange area between India and China; click on hotspot to see detailed map, which can also be reached by thumbnail.  

• In the east, China and India claim  Arunachal, which has historically been under Indian jurisdiction.  It is east of Bhutan. Note that Bangladesh divides India from its Northeast, so the area is at a far-flung Indian border.  

  • In 1999-2000, with India trying to push back Pakistani troops on the western border (at Kargil), China moved troops to the area just north of Arunachal.  (China and Pakistan have close relations. While China urged settlement of the conflict in the western area, the troop movement in the east assisted Pakistan.) For a more highly detailed map, click thumbnail.

With Vietnam - indefinite and disputed border

North Korea:  33-km section of boundary  in the Paektu-san (mountain) area

Map:  Stratfor.com (China's New Naval Strategy") Jan 26, 2000.  

China disputes the maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. 

 China occupied the Paracel Islands (claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan).  

Shipping routes through the South China Sea connect Northeast Asia with Southeast Asia and the Middle East.  Some 41,000 ships a year traverse the Sea-- more than double the number that pass through the Suez Canal and nearly treble the total for the Panama Canal.  

The Spratly Islands in the southeast quadrant of the sea  hold oil and natural gas deposits.  Some of the disputed area is within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, as defined by international law, but China issued a map claiming ownership (calling them the Nansha Islands). China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei  claim ownership.  

Several incidents have occurred:  Vietnamese shot at a Filipino plane, a Chinese fishing vessel sank  after a collision with a Filipino naval vessel; Chinese and Vietnamese clashed. 

The Spratlys are dangerous  due to the shallowness of the waters surrounding the islands and many submerged reefs.  Most merchant ships steer clear, but they provide haven for pirates who are  notorious in the Sea, especially around the Malaccan Straits.   

 In November 1999 Indian naval  ships chased a hijacked Japanese cargo ship for 12 hours before recapture.  Japan has expressed interest in joint patrols with China, South Korea, and other states such as Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.   As a sea-trading power, Taiwan needs free passage through the South China Sea and sends naval vessels  there as well. The Indian Navy plans bi-lateral military  exercises with Vietnam and then South Korean navies in the South China Sea in fall, 2000.  

China would have to develop a "green navy."  (see map for the green and blue navy lines) to effectively operate in the South China Sea.   Obviously alliances among countries whose warships operate in the area could be a significant factor.  

Click on the thumbnail to see close-up of Spratleys.     

US - China is concerned about US hegemony and attempts to impose capitalist and democratic system on China (a real threat to its sovereignty - economic, cultural, political).  Ultimately, the US-China dyad is a serious national security threat.  However, it is not as emotional as the fear of Japan.  Issues such as human rights, trade, technology-transfer and intellectual property rights are critical, as well as US support for Taiwan.  

Russia - Ambiguous relationship.  Friend or foe?  Ally or opponent?  Russia is source of most military high-technology, and licenses enable the Chinese to boost their economy.  

Japan - China fears Japanese strength at a visceral level.  China views Japan's military build-up as excessive and totally unreasonable.   (This may exemplify the "dead hand of the past" - experience of Japanese occupation during the 1930's and 1940's.) Japan has a large "blue water navy" with more and better ships, planes.

• China claims oil-and-gas-rich Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai, which is administered by Japan and also claimed by Taiwan.  

North Korea: Minor concern.  Even its nuclear program does not upset China.  

India - China regards India as a threat to its power in Asia.  To that end, China insisted that India not be allowed to join APEC  (Association of Pacific Economic Community which includes multiple small states such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, etc.).  Without India, China becomes the unrivaled giant  in the association.  

China developed close and supportive ties to Myanmar (formerly Burma, to east of India), and its government (military government accused of major human rights abuses).  China helped construct naval bases in Sittwe (close to India's major port city of Calcutta), and funded road construction to link Sittwe with the capital of Yangon (formerly Rangoon).  Yangon's port lies on the Andaman Sea.  The  Indian navy has its  Far Eastern Naval Command  based on the southern tip of the Andaman Island.  See . 

China negotiated an agreement with Egypt in May, 2000, to permit ships of the China Ocean Shipping Company  to use port facilities along the Suez Canal, including Port Said.   

(COSCO is a state-owned company, the second largest shipping company in the world.)  US retired Admiral Thomas Moorer (former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) described COSCO as "the merchant marine arm of the PLA."  According to Stratfor.com, one of COSCO's ships was caught smuggling 2000 Chinese AK-47s into Oakland, California.  

COSCO also is active in Singapore, which permits policing the southern entrance to the Strait of Malacca.  

China can be expected to  gain access to Pakistani ports.   The Chinese presence--even with just a few missile patrol boats--offers a challenge to both India and the US in the Indian Ocean (and Persian Gulf area), just as India challenges China in the South China Sea.  

1999 was the year of the crackdown on any group which appeared to present an organized source of dissent (Falun Gong, Catholics, Chinese Democracy Party,  wildcat trade unions, social volunteers (environmental, consumers'rights, workers), pensioners, unemployed, etc .  Swaine and Tellis point out the political system is "marked by high levels of elite internecine conflict at the apex and weak institutions or processes for mediating and resolving such conflict."

Cutbacks in the military may have led to disgruntled officers.  Concern about reliability led to rotation of commanders of military regions, and a new rule that prohibits any PLA unit of battalion size to move from one military region to another without express permission of top Communist Party officials.

So Stratfor.com (intelligence service on web) expressed  concern in March, 2000 when customs officials in Hong Kong seized five Soviet armored personnel carriers which had no import licenses.  They were  destined for Tianjin, a municipality next to Beijing.  The APCs were on a ship which routed through Naples, Haifa and Singapore.  The ship's operation was a Beijing shipping company closely tied to the PLA;  company officials  claimed to know  nothing about  the shipment.   (China does not have any APCs of this type.)  

• Was this shipment part of a planned rebellion against Beijing?    This was not the first interception of military equipment by Hong Kong authorities.  
• Or, was this a shipment destined for North Korea, and just "passing through"?  If so, why this unusual route?

China Politico-Military Doctrines

Current Shape of China's Military

Military Spending Simulation: China

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