(TibetanReview.net, Apr06’24) — China is set to develop 175 more border villages on the occupied-Tibet side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) facing the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. These settlements will be in addition to the 628 “Xiaokang” or “prosperous villages”, otherwise seen to be meant to serve as border security villages, near the LAC, reported tribuneindia.com Apr 5, citing unnamed sources.
The move is reported to be seen in India as being designed to bolster territorial claim under a 2005 bilateral accord and to enhance military preparedness for future possible armed conflicts.
This move is part of a larger effort to construct 900 LAC villages, including 200 near the Indian boundary, which will function both as monitoring points and potential military bases in conflict scenario with India, the report said.
China could be looking to build a strong legal defence under the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA), 2005, with India. Article VII of BDCA says “the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas”. So as and when a situation arises to demarcate the LAC, these “settled populations” villages are not likely to be disturbed, the report cited sources as saying, adding Indian villages facing these new settlements were currently very thinly populated.
In terms of military preparedness, China has undertaken extensive infrastructure development projects in Tibet and in areas near the LAC. Its current, 14th Five Year Plan (2021-2025) includes expansion of the Nyingchi phase of the Sichuan-Tibet railway line, preliminary work on the Hotan-Shigatse and Gyirong-Shigatse rail lines and the Chengdu-Wuhan-Shanghai high speed railway network, the report noted.
The plan is said to include upgrading the national highways G-219 and G-318, both running parallel to the LAC with India. The G-219 runs opposite the Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh borders while the G-318 runs opposite Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim borders, the report noted.
Beijing’s dual goals of promoting the integration of Tibet into China and ramping up infrastructure development are seen as a strategy aimed at deepening Chinese influence and asserting its power in the region.
The report further noted that last week, in an attempt to cover up the “capture” of Tibet, the Chinese conducted celebratory ceremonies on its side of the LAC and labelled them as the “65th anniversary of democratic reform” in Xizang (Tibet). The illegal dissolution of the Tibetan government headed by the Dalai Lama took place on Mar 28, 1959. The celebratory ceremonies focused on two sites north of Arunachal Pradesh and one spot north of Sikkim, it added.