Based on images and analysis supplied to Reuters by U.S. data analytics firm HawkEye 360, which uses
satellites to gather intelligence on ground-level activities, and vetted by two other experts, Reuters (January
12) disclosed that China has accelerated settlement-building along its disputed border with Bhutan, with
more than 200 structures, including two-storey buildings, under construction in six locations. Chris Biggers,
the mission applications director at HawkEye 360 was quoted as saying that images show the work speeded
up in 2021. Smaller structures were erected - possibly to house equipment and supplies - followed by the
laying of foundations and then the construction of buildings. Two other experts who studied the locations of
the new construction and recent satellite images taken by Capella Space said all six settlements appear to be
in territory disputed by China and Bhutan - including a contested tract of roughly 110 square kilometres -
with little in the way of resources or native population. They added that the new construction is 9 to 27km
from the Doklam area at the junction of the borders of India, Bhutan and China, where Indian and Chinese
troops were locked in standoff for more than two months in 2017. Bhutan's foreign ministry said in response
to questions from Reuters that "It is Bhutan's policy not to talk about boundary issues in the public." China's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters the construction is "entirely for the improvement of the working and
living conditions of the local people. It is within China's sovereignty to carry out normal construction
activities on its own territory."
|