INDEPTH: CHINA
Border disputes in China
CBC News Online | April 19, 2005
China has more neighbours than any country in the world, bordering on 14 other countries. Only the European Union, taken as a whole, has more bordering countries.
With so many fences to keep up, a few disputes can be expected. Here are a few from recent years.
India
Two regions are claimed by both India and China. Aksai Chin is in the disputed territory of Kashmir, at the junction of Pakistan, Tibet and India. India claims the 38,000-square-kilometre territory, currently administered by China.
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India in the country's northeast, bordering on Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. Though it is under Indian administration, China calls the 90,000-square-kilometre area South Tibet.
Russia
A dispute involving three islands on the rivers that form the border between China and Russia was resolved in October 2004, in a manner King Solomon would have been proud of.
Each of the islands – Bol'shoi Ussuriiskii Island and Tarabarov Island at the juncture of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, near Khabarovsk, Russia, and Bol'shoi Island on the Argun River – was split 50-50, with half of the territory going to each country.
The uninhabited islands had symbolic importance in the control over the rivers.
Japan
The Senkaku Islands are five unpopulated islands in the East China Sea with a total are of seven square kilometres. They are under Japanese control and are considered part of the Japanese Southwest Islands, but the People's Republic of China and Taiwan each claim them as well, calling them the Diaoyutai Islands and Diaoyu Islands, respectively.
In March 2004, a group of seven Chinese activists landed on one of the islands. The Japanese government arrested them for illegal entry and deported them back to China.
Taiwan
The People's Republic of China claims Taiwan, but it is administered by the Republic of China. For more see Taiwan.
Tibet
The Government of Tibet in Exile claims not only the Tibet Autonomous Region under the control of China, but also Qinghai province and parts of surrounding provinces. Tibet in Exile calls the Chinese control of Tibet an illegitimate occupation. For more see the Tibet timeline.
Other disputes
Portions of China's western border with Tajikistan haven't been defined.
A section of the boundary between China and North Korea in the Baitou Mountain area is indefinite.
The Paracel Islands in the South China Sea are administered by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. There is also a dispute between China and Vietnam over the maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The rich fishing rights and possible oil reserves of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are claimed by China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and possibly Brunei.
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Background on the pre-existing tension between China and Japan from The Hour.
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