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Bhutan China
The other nation that borders Bhutan is China, with
which
Bhutan had no diplomatic relations as of mid-1991. Bhutan
and China
have long had differences with respect to the delineation
of their
common border, which follows natural features--the
watershed of the
Chumbi Valley in the northwest and the crest of the Great
Himalayan
Range of mountains in the north. The part of China that
borders
Bhutan--Tibet, or the Xizang Autonomous Region--has
important
historical, cultural, and religious ties to Bhutan
(see
Origins and Early Settlement, A.D. 600-1600, this ch.). China had been
heavily
involved in Tibetan affairs since the 1720s, and it was
through
this involvement that Bhutan and China had their first
direct
relations. Bhutanese delegations to the Dalai Lama came
into
contact with the Chinese representatives in Lhasa, but
there never
was a tributary relationship with Beijing. Relations with
Tibet
itself, never particularly good, were strained
considerably when
Bhutan sided with Britain in the early 1900s. Trying to
secure its
southwestern flank against increasing foreign aggression,
China
claimed a vague suzerainty over Bhutan in the period just
before
the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The new Republic of China
let the
claim lapse, however, and it never again was raised
publicly.
Tension in Bhutan-China relations increased with the
Chinese
occupation of Tibet in 1951 and again rose with the
anti-Chinese
revolts in eastern and central Tibet between 1954 and
1958. The
massive Tibetan uprisings in 1959 and the flight to India
of the
Dalai Lama, as well as the heightened presence of Chinese
forces on
the ill-defined frontier, alerted Bhutan to the potential
threat it
faced, and its representative in Tibet was withdrawn.
Included in
the territory occupied by the Chinese People's Liberation
Army were
the eight western Tibetan enclaves administered by Bhutan
since the
seventeenth century. New Delhi intervened with Beijing on
behalf of
Thimphu regarding the enclaves, but the Chinese refused to
discuss
what they considered a matter between China and Bhutan.
Another
problem with China emerged at this time as the result of
the flight
to Bhutan of some 6,000 Tibetan refugees. The specter of
renewed
Chinese claims to Bhutan, Sikkim, and Nepal was raised
after China
published a map in 1961 that showed alterations of
traditional
Sino-Bhutanese and other Himalayan borders in Beijing's
favor.
Bhutan responded with an embargo on cross-border trade and
closer
links with India.
During this period, Thimphu continued to withstand
Beijing's
mixture of threats and offers of conciliation in the form
of
economic aid and assurance of independence. Tension was
renewed
during the 1962 Sino-Indian border war when the Chinese
army
outflanked Indian troops, who, with permission of
Bhutanese
authorities, retreated through southeastern Bhutan. More
fearful of
China than confident of India's ability to defend it,
Bhutan
formally maintained a policy of neutrality while quietly
expanding
its relations with India. Cross-border incursions by
Chinese
soldiers and Tibetan herders occurred in 1966, but
tensions
generally lessened thereafter and during the 1970s. In
1979 a
larger than usual annual intrusion by Tibetan herders into
Bhutan
brought protests to Beijing from both Thimphu and New
Delhi. China,
again seeking a direct approach with Bhutan, ignored the
Indian
protest but responded to the one from Bhutan. As part of
its policy
of asserting its independence from India, Bhutan was open
to direct
talks, whereas India continued to see the Sino-Bhutan
boundary
issue as intimately related to the Sino-Indian border
dispute. A
series of border talks has been held annually since 1984
between
the ministers of foreign of affairs of Bhutan and China,
leading to
relations that have been characterized by the two sides as
"very
good."
Data as of September 1991
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