High In The Himalayas, Chinese Settlement In Bhutanese Territory Raises Concerns

In the mist-shrouded Himalayas, a winding mountain road opens to a clearing in a pine-forested valley, where rows of Tibetan-style houses, each topped with a Chinese flag, stand in uniform order, Simone McCarthy and Nectar Gan reported for CNN.

The village, known as Demalong and established in March last year with 70 families, is not only located in territory claimed by China but also within Bhutan’s border.:

Construction is booming, with logs and other building materials piled along the road, and cranes rising on nearby hillsides.

A Chinese travel vlogger who captured these scenes last year commented, “They are building resettlement houses here… it undeniably confirms that this is our country’s territory.”

The village, known as Demalong and established in March last year with 70 families, is not only located in territory claimed by China but also within Bhutan’s border according to official maps.

As China incentivizes settlers from Tibet, Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom with fewer than a million people, faces increasing pressure over its unformalized border with China.