Aksai Chin


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Coordinates: 35°7′N 79°8′E / 35.117, 79.133

Aksai Chin

China - India western border showing Aksai China
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese: 阿克賽欽
Simplified Chinese: 阿克赛钦
Hindi name
Hindi: अकसाई चिन
Urdu name
Urdu: اکسائی چن

Aksai Chin (Simplified Chinese: 阿克赛钦, Traditional chinese: 阿克賽欽, Hanyu pinyin: Ākèsàiqīn, Hindi: अकसाई चिन) is a region located at the juncture of China, Pakistan, and India.[1] It is administered by China and claimed by India. The cease-fire line that separates Indian-administered areas from the Aksai Chin is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Aksai Chin is one of the two main border disputes between these two countries, the other being the dispute over Arunachal Pradesh, administered by India and claimed by China as South Tibet. India claims Aksai Chin as the eastern-most part of the Jammu and Kashmir state.

Aksai Chin (the name literally means "qin's desert of white stones") is a vast high-altitude desert of salt that reaches heights up to 5,000 metres. It covers an area of 42,685 square kilometres (16,481 sq mi) of the disputed territory. Geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau, Aksai Chin is referred to as the Soda Plain. The region is almost uninhabited, has no permanent settlements, and receives little precipitation as the Himalayan and other mountains block the rains from the Indian monsoon.

Contents

History

Aksai Chin was historically part of the Himalayan Kingdom of Ladakh until Ladakh was annexed from the rule of the local Namgyal dynasty by the Dogras and the princely state of Kashmir in the 19th century. It was subsequently absorbed into British India by the 1904 treaty between Tibet and British India which led to the McMahon Line demarcation, under which parts of Arunachal Pradesh namely Tawang, would have been annexed by the British India, agreed to by Tibet and India. China, which at that time did not recognize Tibet's Sovereignty but rather considered Xizang (Tibet) to be under the suzerainty of China, did not accept the agreement reached between Tibet and British India. Accordingly China refused to recognize the entire McMahon line (or, for that matter, any treaty signed by Tibet). One of the main causes of the Sino-Indian War of 1962 was India's discovery of a road China had built through the region, which India considers its territory. The China National Highway 219, connecting Tibet and Xinjiang, passes through no sizable town in Aksai Chin, there are only some military posts and truck stops, such as (the very small) Tianshuihai (4850m) or Dahongliutian (4200m, see external Link below). The area is strategically important to China because of this road.

Aksai Chin is currently under the administration of the People's Republic of China. Most of it is in Hotan County, in the primarily Muslim Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, to which it was transferred by China from Tibet. What little data exists suggests that the few true locals in Aksai Chin have Buddhist beliefs, although some Muslim Uyghurs may also live in the area because of the trade between Tibet and Xinjiang. India also claims the area as a part of the Ladakh district of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Both sides in the dispute have agreed to respect the Line of Actual Control and this dispute is considered very unlikely to result in actual hostilities.

Pakistan also has laid a claim on Jammu and Kashmir. However, border agreements between Pakistan and China in 1963 which transferred the Trans-Karakoram Tract and 1987 say that Pakistan recognizes China's claims on the areas. No Pakistani Government has ever officially claimed this region. The Pakistani Government has given tacit approval of China by considering Aksai Chin as a part of China.

 This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

Google Earth Speculation

In June 2006, satellite imagery on the Google Earth service revealed[2] a 500:1 scale terrain model [1] of eastern Aksai Chin and adjacent Tibet, built near the town of Huangyangtan, about 35 kilometres South West of Yinchuan, the capital of the autonomous region of Ningxia in China. A visual side-by-side comparison shows a very detailed duplication of Aksai Chin in the camp.[3] The 900m × 700m model was surrounded by substantial facility, with rows of red-roofed buildings, scores of olive-colored trucks and a large compound with elevated lookout posts and a large communications tower. Since terrain models are known to be used in military training and simulation (although usually on a much smaller scale), posters in the Google Earth online community advanced theories regarding the purpose of the model, including usage as

  • a model for walk-through terrain visualization exercise in pilot training
  • a model to study dispersal patterns of chemical or biological weapons

Local authorities in Ningxia, however, maintain that the model is part of a tank training ground, built in 1998 or 1999.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Aksai Chin: China's disputed slice of Kashmir". CNN.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  2. ^ Google Earth Community posting, 29 June 2006
  3. ^ Google Earth Community posting, 10 April 2007
  4. ^ Chinese X-file not so mysterious after all, 23 July 2006

External links







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