Aksai Chin 66988 223359294 2008-07-03T19:03:42Z Muro Bot 5849026 robot Adding: [[simple:Aksai Chin]] {{unbalanced}} {{POV|date=December 2007}} {{coor title dm|35|7|N|79|8|E}} {{Chinese|s=阿克赛钦 |t=阿克賽欽|j=aa3 hak1 coi3 jam1|p=Ākèsàiqīn|hin=अकसाई चिन |lang1_content=اکسائی چن|lang1=Urdu |pic=China India western border 88.jpg|piccap=[[China]] - [[India]] western border showing Aksai China }} '''Aksai Chin''' ([[Simplified Chinese language|Simplified Chinese]]: 阿克赛钦, Ākèsàiqīn,[[Hindi]]:अकसाई चिन) is a region located at the juncture of [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Pakistan]], and [[India]]. It represents about one fifth of [[Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/24/aksai.chin/ |title=Aksai Chin: China's disputed slice of Kashmir |publisher=CNN.com |accessdate=2007-07-23 }}</ref> It is administered by [[China]] and claimed by India. Aksai Chin is one of the two main border disputes between India and China, the other being the dispute over [[Arunachal Pradesh]]. Aksai Chin (the name literally means "Chin'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 {{convert|42685|km2|sqmi}} 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]]. ==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 [[Dogra]]s 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 [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Xizang]] [[Tibet|(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 Macmahon 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|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. {{Unreferencedsection|date=July 2007}} ==Google Earth Speculation== In June 2006, [[satellite imagery]] on the [[Google Earth]] service revealed<ref>[http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/484568/page/vc Google Earth Community posting], [[29 June]], [[2006]]</ref> a 500:1 scale terrain model [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=yinchuan,+china&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=38.26568,105.953865&spn=0.014489,0.042915] 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.<ref>[http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/859782/page/0/vc/1 Google Earth Community posting], 10 April 2007</ref> 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 navigation/gunnery training area for [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]s that drop small flour or paint bombs in an exercise to simulate [[Trajectory|trajectories]] and dispersal patterns * a model to study dispersal patterns of chemical or biological weapons * a [[tank]] training facility. * a model simulating [[water catchment area]]s of China's major river systems in [[climatology]] research. Local authorities in Ningxia, however, maintain that the model is part of a tank training ground, built in 1998 or 1999.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/chinese-xfile-not-so-mysterious-after-all/2006/07/23/1153593217781.html Chinese X-file not so mysterious after all], [[23 July]], [[2006]]</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1101845 China, India, and the fruits of Nehru's folly] by Venkatesan Vembu, [[Daily News & Analysis]], June 6, 2007 * [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2319/stories/20061006006512300.htm Facing the truth] Pakistan has solved its border problem with China, but India is caught in a prolonged dispute. * [http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/20spec.htm The Great China-India Game] An informative history of the always-ambiguous China-India border in Aksai Chin. *[http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/24/aksai.chin/ Aksai Chin: China's disputed slice of Kashmir] * [http://maps.google.de/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=35.980307,79.191148&spn=0.005305,0.009881 Detailed satellite image of Dahonglutian, the largest truck stop place in Aksai Chin] * [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/kashmir.html ''Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of California, Berkeley, USA''; [[University of California, Berkeley]] Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list] *[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=yinchuan,+china&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=38.26568,105.953865&spn=0.014489,0.042915 Satellite image of large scale terrain model of Aksai Chin] *[http://www.ndu.edu/inss/books/Books%20-%201998/Military%20Geography%20March%2098/mgmap49.gif Diagram explaining the situation] *[http://kewang2.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!836449133D1FE13D!654.entry Photos from Google Earth] * [http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1096493 Why China is playing hardball in Arunachal] by Venkatesan Vembu, Daily News & Analysis, May 13, 2007 {{Territorial disputes in East and South Asia}} [[Category:Independent India]] [[Category:History of Jammu and Kashmir]] [[Category:Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China]] [[Category:Kashmir]] [[Category:Geography of India]] [[Category:Geography of Xinjiang]] [[Category:Territorial disputes of India]] [[Category:Wars involving China]] [[cs:Aksai Čin]] [[de:Aksai Chin]] [[es:Aksai Chin]] [[fr:Aksai Chin]] [[gl:Aksai Chin]] [[hi:अक्साई चिन]] [[id:Aksai Chin]] [[it:Aksai Chin]] [[nl:Aksai Chin]] [[ja:アクサイチン]] [[pl:Aksai Chin]] [[pt:Aksai Chin]] [[simple:Aksai Chin]] [[sv:Aksai Chin]] [[ur:اکسائی چن]] [[zh:阿克赛钦]]