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The People’s Republic of China is huge.
Not only is it the world's most populous country,
with a population of around 1.404 billion
people, it’s massive landwise.
The country is approximately 3,700,000 square
miles (9,600,000 square kilometers) making
it slightly larger than the United States
in land area.
Although China spans 5 geographical time zones,
the whole country follows a single standard
time.
China’s home to 56 ethnic groups.
Linguists estimate that there are nearly 300
living languages spoken in China with Mandarin
Chinese having the most speakers-- around
955 million people.
China is governed by the Communist Party of
China which administers the country from the
capital of Beijing.
The country is rapidly developing and is on
track to become a superpower.
Here are 6 places China is attempting to subjugate
to expand its borders, economic and global
influence.
Number 1: Tibet - China has a long and volatile
relationship with Tibet.
Beginning in the 13th century and throughout
different periods in history, Tibet has been
ruled by Chinese and Mogolian dynasties and
has also been an independent nation.
In the first quarter of the 20th century,
Tibet was ruled by Great Britain before once
again became an independent nation.
In 1950 Chinese troops invaded Tibet to enforce
China’s age old claim on the country.
Some areas became the Tibetan Autonomous Region
and others were assimilated into neighboring
Chinese provinces.
In 1959, after a failed anti-Chinese revolt,
the spiritual leader of Tibet, the 14th Dalai
Lama fled the country and set up a government
in exile in India.
During China's Cultural Revolution, many Buddhist
monasteries were destroyed and thousands of
Tibetans were likely slaughtered during martial
law.
Due to international pressure, in the 1980s
China somewhat relaxed its grip on Tibet and
implemented reforms.
Currently Beijing continues to modernize Tibet,
sometimes at the cost of the region’s cultural
heritage.
Development has brought Han Chinese migrants
and western tourism to the area.
Since the early 2000s there have been protests
in Tibet, especially on the anniversaries
of politically significant dates.
Human rights groups say that China continues
to politically and religiously repression
Tibet.
Various activists worldwide campaign for an
independent Tibet.
There are several strategic and economic motives
China has for governing the region.
Tibet is highly important to China’s sense
of self and Chinese nationalism.
Many Chinese leaders past and present have
believed that no matter the lines drawn on
a map, Tibet is fundamentally a part of China.
They’ve felt a strong nationalistic drive
to return China to its ancient far flung Qing
Dynasty borders.
Tibet also serves as a buffer zone between
China on one side and India, Nepal, and Bangladesh
on the other.
The Himalayan mountain range provides natural
security as well as a military advantage.
China is currently struggling to find a balance
between environmental issues and yet not hinder
the country's economic industry.
China is hungry for natural resources and
Tibet serves as a crucial water source as
well as possessing significant mineral wealth.
Since the early 2000’s Beijing has invested
billions in Tibet as part of its wide-ranging
economic development plan for Western China.
Number 2: Arunachal Pradesh - China also claims
that the region of Arunachal Pradesh, the
northeasternmost state of the 28 states of
India is a part of south Tibet and therefore
a part of China.
Aside from India, Taiwan also claims the South
Tibet region.
Arunachal Pradesh borders the Indian states
of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and countries
Bhutan to the west, Myanmar to the east.
To the north, the demarcation line known as
the McMahon line separates Arunachal Pradesh
from the Tibetan area of China.
Historically Arunachal Pradesh belong to neither
China nor India, but was dominated by several
autonomous tribes.
In 1913–1914 representatives from Great
Britain, China, and Tibet held the Simla Conference
to decide on border lines for Tibet.
The Tibetan and British officials agreed on
the McMahon line as the border between British
India and Outer Tibet.
The Chinese representatives refused the demarcation
line and have considered it invalid ever since.
When China invaded Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai
Lama later fled Tibet, India supported the
Tibetan government, angering China.
During the Sino-Indian border conflict of
1962, China captured most of the area of Arunachal
Pradesh, but ended up withdrawing.
In recent years, tensions have risen as China
has publicly claimed the region of Arunachal
Pradesh.
China is especially interested in a small
district called Tawang, which borders Tibet
and Bhutan.
China has even gone so far as to destroy thousands
of maps and make new ones having renamed parts
of Arunachal Pradesh with Chinese names.
India, while not growing as fast as China,
is still emerging as a regional economic powerhouse.
China wants dominate Asia and sometimes seems
to look for ways to clash with India.
Most importantly, it is strongly assumed that
there are heavy deposits of minerals such
as gold and lithium in Arunachal Pradesh.
A large scale Chinese mining found gold and
silver deposits worth around $60 billion in
the Lhunze county of Tibet which is directly
adjacent to Arunachal Pradesh.
Number 3: Aksai Chin - China and India also
clash over another border region, Aksai Chin,
near Kashmir.
Aksai Chin is mainly in Hotan County, in the
southwestern part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region with a small area on the southeast
and south sides lying within the extreme west
of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
India claims Aksai Chin as a part of the Ladakh
region of the Jammu and Kashmir state.
Aksai Chin is a remote, inhospitable region
where mainly nomadic tribes roam.
The area was ignored until the 1950s when
China built a military road through it to
connect Tibet with Xinjiang.
India was angry upon discovery of the road
and it ended up becoming a major factor in
the Sino-Indian border conflict of 1962.
At the end of the clash, China retained control
of about 14,700 square miles (38,000 square
km) of territory in Aksai Chin.
In 1993 and 1996, the two countries signed
agreements to respect the Line of Actual Control,
the demarcation line that separates Indian-controlled
territory from Chinese-controlled territory
in Jammu and Kashmir.
Not only does wants China want Aksai Chin
for maintaining a direct route between Tibet
and Xinjiang, it appreciates the territory
for its strategic position.
Aksai Chin is mostly high ground with an average
elevation of around 17,000 feet (5,180 metres).
If China ever goes to war with its neighbors
Pakistan, Kashmir and India, the Aksai Chin
region will enable it to take a commanding,
high position.
Number 4: The South China Sea - As well as
claiming disputed land, China has also claimed
islands in the South China Sea.
In fact, China has taken to dredging the sea
and building out uninhabited islands such
as Woody Island or the Spratly Islands to
tighten its control over the region.
Six countries: The Philippines, Vietnam, China,
Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia hold different
territorial, sometimes overlapping claims
over the South China sea, based on various
historical accounts and geography.
Adding to the tension, the US navy frequently
patrols the sea due to its alliance with several
countries.
China considers this to be provocation.
The South China Sea is very important to Beijing
because it’s a crucial commercial passage
connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.
One third of global shipping or $3.37 trillion
USD dollars of international trade passes
through the South China Sea.
Furthermore, the seabed is rich with major
oil and gas reserves.
The US Energy Information Administration estimates
the region contains at least 11 billion barrels
of crude oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas.
Also the South China Sea is a vital food source,
accounting for 10% of the world’s fisheries.
In July 2016, an international tribunal in
The Hague ruled that China had no “historic
rights” over the sea and that some of the
rocky outcrops claimed by several countries
could not legally be used as the basis for
territorial claims.
Beijing rejected the ruling.
More recently some southeast Asian nations
have considered having bilateral talks with
China to settle the dispute.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
ASEAN has been working with China to create
an official code of conduct to avoid clashes
in the disputed waters.
Number 5: Taiwan - China has had an ongoing
dispute with Taiwan for decades.
It views Taiwan as a breakaway province that
will eventually be part of the country again,
but many Taiwanese citizens want a completely
separate nation.
Historically Taiwan was a part of China.
Taiwan was governed by China's Qing dynasty
from 1683 to 1895.
When Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War,
China has to cede the region to them.
After World War II, Japan was forced to relinquish
to China control of the territory it had previously
taken.
Civil war broke out in China in 1946 and ended
in a victory for Mao Zedong’s Communist
army.
Chiang Kai-shek and his Chinese Nationalist
Party--known as the Kuomintang, or KMT fled
to Taiwan.
The KMT dominated Taiwan's politics for many
years, until after Chiang Kai-shek’s death.
Having inherited an effective dictatorship
and under pressure from a burgeoning democracy
movement, Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo,
began allowing a process of democratisation,
which in 2000 led to the election of the island's
first non-KMT president, Chen Shui-bian.
Meanwhile China treated Taiwan with great
hostility.
In the 1980s, relations between China and
Taiwan started improving.
China put forth the "one country, two systems"
plan under which Taiwan would be given significant
autonomy if it accepted Chinese reunification.
Taiwan refused, but did relax rules for its
citizens to visit and investment in China.
Since the 1970s, the US has been a close ally
of Taiwan and has sold billions in defensive
weapons to the country.
Currently, US policy in the region has been
described as "strategic ambiguity", seeking
to balance recognition of China's emergence
as a regional power with US support for Taiwan's
economic success and democratisation.
In recent years China has been alarmed by
Tawianese citizens electing politicians who
favor independence from China.
Furthermore, the Taiwanese public has staged
various protests about Beijing's policies
regarding the country.
Currently Taiwan’s legal status is unclear,
in limbo.
The country has its own constitution, democratically
elected leaders, and is own armed forces with
about 300,000 active troops.
China wants Taiwan to return to the fold because
of nationalism.
Also Taiwan being a part of China is a strategic
defensive move.
If Taiwan was to become an independent nation,
with its close ties to America, the US would
likely have a naval port and military base
in Taiwan, right on China’s doorstep.
Number 6: Hong Kong - One final place where
China is attempting to expand its power is
Hong Kong.
At the end of the first Opium War in 1842,
part of Hong Kong Island became a British
colony.
Later, China leased the rest of Hong Kong
- the New Territories - to the British for
99 years.
By the 1950s, Hong Kong had become a busy
commercial port, and a manufacturing hub.
As the end of the 99-year-lease approached,
Britain and China held talks on the future
of Hong Kong.
In 1984 a deal was reached that Hong Kong
would return to China in 1997, under the principle
of "one country, two systems".
As a result, Hong Kong has a high degree of
autonomy with its own legal system and borders,
and rights including freedom of assembly and
free speech for the next 50 years.
However in recent years Beijing has been treading
on Hong Kong rights.
Artists and writers say they are under increased
pressure to self-censor and democracy has
been limited, the current leader was elected
by a 1,200-member pro-Beijing election committee
chosen by just 6% of eligible voters.
Throughout the spring and summer of 2019 large
protests erupted in Hong Kong in response
to a proposed bill permitting the extradition
of fugitives to mainland China.
Citizens worry the bill will be used to target,
detain and extradite political dissents.
Beijing's response to the protests has become
increasingly violent as the citizens show
no signs of backing down.
China considers Hong Kong a bridge between
Asia and the west for business and financial
matters.
Also, once again China’s domination of Hong
Kong seems to be fueled by nationlistic fervor.
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Do you think Hong Kong should be its own country?
Why or why not?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video
Why War With China Will Get You Drafted!
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See you next time!
