copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Tawang is a territory of India (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-19): In 2006, the Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, stated that "in our position, the whole of what you call the state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory and Tawang (district) is only one place in it and we are claiming all of that – that’s our position" (China Daily, November 14, 2006). At present, China’s official claims over "Arunachal Pradesh" are based on the pretext that "Zangnan" is located in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Furthermore, Chinese officials have stated repeatedly that the area "has been China’s territory since the ancient times. China’s ethnic minorities such as the Moinba and Tibetan ethnic groups have lived and worked in this area for a long time" (FMPRC, December 31, 2021).
Claim: Tawang is a territory of India (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-09): On December 9, the Indian and Chinese military forces clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Yangtse area of the Tawang sector in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The conflict resulted in injuries (but not fatalities). This is one of the major incidents in the more than two years after the defining China-India clash at Galwan in the Ladakh region. In 2021, although there were reports of a minor face-off between Indian and Chinese patrol parties in the eastern sector, it did not result in injuries and the matter was resolved at the local military commanders’ level. Before the clashes of 2021, the previous such incident in this sector had been in 2016. [...] Arguably, following the Galwan conflict, it was only a matter of time before China extended its aggressive tactics to other areas of dispute along the LAC. On this note, it can be assessed that conflict in Tawang was inevitable, especially as it is the historical, cultural, and political "flashpoint" of the Tibet question. Furthermore, the region figures centrally in Xi’s quest for Chinese "rejuvenation" and "revitalization." The new law and intermittent clashes at the border are only further evidence that India is being dragged into protracted turmoil.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of India (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-05-12): TAWANG, India — Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come to his country's most remote state, an unspoiled place of indigenous tribes and rain forests, to open its first railway station and boast of new development. [...] The status of Tawang has exacerbated the long-running dispute between the two countries, experts say. China has never accepted the McMahon boundary line drawn in 1914 that essentially placed Tawang in territory controlled by the British Raj. India, for its part, rejects China’s claim to a slice of the high Tibetan plateau several hundred miles to the west called Aksai Chin. [...] Tawang itself has the feel of an occupied city, with green barracks dotting the hillside and soldiers in fatigues mingling with monks in maroon robes in the bustling market square. Near Tawang, at altitudes higher than the clouds, yak herders and villagers gathering firewood fight for space alongside heavy military trucks on winding roads. Many of the residents still remember the short war between the neighboring countries in 1962, when the Chinese briefly occupied the area.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of India (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-12-13): Two-and-a-half years after Indian and Chinese soldiers engaged in deadly hand-to-hand combat at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), their troops faced off at the Yangtse area near Tawang in the eastern sector of their disputed border. [...] However, the Chinese ingression on December 9 at Tawang was not due to any fuzziness in the border but the outcome of a "planned attempt" by China to take control of the 17,000-ft (5,180-meter) peak, a senior commander in the Indian Army’s Eastern Command told The Diplomat. Apparently, the PLA attempted to take control of this peak in October 2021 as well, which also culminated in clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers. [...] China’s ingression at Tawang could indeed be linked to the situation in Ladakh, where tensions have not abated. Sixteen rounds of talks between senior Indian and Chinese commanders have led to disengagement of troops from "friction areas" at Galwan, Pangong Tso, Gogra, and Hot Springs. But Chinese troops remain in control of Depsang and Demchok. It is possible that the ingression at Tawang is aimed at getting India to concede more of China’s demands in Ladakh.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of India (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-08-10): Is Tawang, Home of Tibetan Buddhism’s 2nd Largest Monastery, China’s Next Territorial Target in India? [...] Tawang, historically, was part of Tibet as the most important frontier administrative unit of the government of Tibet before signing the Simla Convention in 1914. This convention demarcated the boundary between Tibet and the eastern Himalayan region of British India, finally drawing the McMahon Line as the border between Tibet and British India. It was here at the Simla Convention that the independent and sovereign state of Tibet legally ceded the Tawang region to British India. The region was later incorporated into what was formerly known as the North East Frontier Agency, including present-day Arunachal Pradesh and some parts of Assam.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-11-22): Nestled high in the easternHimalayas, Tawang, a picturesque district of Arunachal Pradesh, finds itself at the crossroads of geopolitical contestations between India and China. With its towering peaks, ancient monasteries, and unique blend of cultures, Tawang has become a focal point of strategic, political, and territorial contestations between the two Asian giants. Tawang’s significance in the geopolitical chessboard dates back to the early 20th century when the McMahon Line was drawn, demarcating the border between British India and Tibet. Post-independence, China rejected this line, leading to territorial disputes and, eventually, the 1962 Sino-Indian war, a watershed moment in the history of both nations, has significantly shaped the trajectory of Sino-Indian relations and left a lasting impact on the geopolitical landscape of the region. The lingering border issue has left Tawang at the centre of diplomatic tensions, with both nations claiming sovereignty over the territory.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-08): The story so far: On December 9, 2022, Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Yangtse area in the Tawang region along the India-China border. The confrontation in Tawang was the most serious skirmish between the two sides since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has found that the skirmish that took place in December was aided by new road infrastructure on the Chinese side, part of rapid infrastructure development by China along the border in this region allowing access to key locations on the Yangste plateau more easily than a year ago. Through satellite imagery, ASPI examines the terrain in which the clash took place along the India-China border, where tens of thousands of Indian and Chinese troops continue to be deployed. Tawang is a strategically significant Indian territory wedged between China and Bhutan. The region’s border with China is a part of the de facto but unsettled India-China border, known as the Line of Actual Control, or LAC. Within Tawang, the Yangtse plateau is important for both the Indian and Chinese militaries. [...] - Tawang is a strategically significant Indian territory wedged between China and Bhutan. The region’s border with China is a part of the de facto but unsettled India-China border, known as the Line of Actual Control, or LAC.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-12-17): The Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh, where the clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers took place on December 9, has long been a theatre for contentious border scuffles. It was in the Tawang sector that the 1962 India-China war first began. It was also the last place where the ceasefire was implemented. [...] Tawang valley is wedged between Tibet and Bhutan and is connected with the mainland through the Se La pass that lies at a height of 13,700 ft, and marks the entry point for the administrative jurisdiction of Tawang. [...] But Chinese interlocutors interpreted the agreement differently and have since claimed Tawang. In 2017, Dai Bingguo, veteran Chinese diplomat and China’s Special Representative for the boundary talks with India between 2003 and 2014, clearly spelt out Beijing’s stand. He said, "The disputed territory in the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, including Tawang, is inalienable from China’s Tibet in terms of cultural background and administrative jurisdiction."
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-10-08): Last week, nearly 200 Chinese soldiers crossed into Indian territory in Tawang, the north-western district of Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a boundary with Bhutan to its west and Tibet in the north. [...] The incursion in Tawang last week was not the first time a large number of Chinese troops transgressed into Indian territory in this part of Arunachal Pradesh. China regularly makes incursion bids in the area. In 2016, for instance, about 250 Chinese troops had crossed into the Indian side in the district and had to be pushed back by the Indian Army. [...] For China, control over Tawang is linked to the legitimacy of its hold over Tibet. If the Dalai Lama finds a successor outside Tibet, the successor that the Chinese Communist Party may appoint (as it did in the case of the Panchen Lama) will not enjoy legitimacy and the spiritual authority required to exercise effective influence in Tibet.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-12-17): In response to questions asked at the regular press briefing about the scuffle between Chinese and Indian forces at Tawang on December 9, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson replied that "the situation along the China-India border at present is stable." [...] In a statement, India’s Ministry of Defense said soldiers from both sides sustained minor injuries in the face-off, which took place in the Tawang sector in India’s northeastern territory of Arunachal Pradesh, a remote, inhospitable region that borders southwestern China. According to reports in the Indian press, at least six Indian troops were injured. A section of the Indian media reported that more Chinese soldiers had been injured in the scuffle. In sharp contrast, China’s Foreign Ministry gave no details of the scuffle in Tawang but said the situation on the border with India was generally stable. "As far as we understand, the China-India border situation is stable overall," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, adding the two sides "maintained unobstructed dialogue on the border issue through diplomatic and military channels." Beijing also urged New Delhi to "earnestly implement the important consensus reached by both leaders, strictly abide by the spirit of the agreements and accords signed by both sides, and together uphold the peace and tranquility of the China-India border region."
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-12-14): Today it is Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state with more than a million people that China continues to claim as its territory, and where the latest flare-up between the two sides in more than a year took place. [...] Chinese soldiers overran an Indian position, killing 17 Indian soldiers and capturing 13 others. Facing little resistance from the surprised and ill-equipped Indian forces they forged ahead. Next day, they seized Tawang, a Buddhist monastery town nestling in a nearby valley. [...] But China has not given up its claims on Arunachal Pradesh and still refers to most of the region as "South Tibet". Last year the Chinese ministry of civil affairs renamed several places in the disputed area, with state media saying that China's territorial claims had a "historical and administrative basis".
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-04): Markey: The LAC runs slightly longer than the U.S.-Mexico border, including stretches of extraordinarily remote, mountainous terrain. Tawang is in the LAC’s "eastern sector," at the edge of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The main clashes of 2020 took place nearly 1,000 miles to the northwest in the Galwan Valley, while another important India-China standoff, at Doklam in 2017, played out in between the two at the "tri-junction" where western Bhutan meets India and China. [...] Of the various points along the LAC, Tawang holds unusual significance for both China and India. It is the site of an important Tibetan Buddhist monastery, believed to be where the sixth Dalai Lama was born in 1683. Beijing’s extreme sensitivities over Tibetan politics — including the question of the identity of the next Dalai Lama — play into their special attention to Tawang. [...] India rejects all such claims. New Delhi sees Arunachal Pradesh as integral to India’s territory and strategically vital for defending the rest of Northeast India. Whereas other remote, scarcely populated patches of territory along the LAC could shift between the effective military control of India and China without major consequence, Tawang is politically non-negotiable.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-21): On December 9, Chinese and Indian soldiers clashed at Yangtse, near Tawang, on the disputed China-India border. While much remains unclear about the clash, it seems that it followed an attempt by a body of Chinese soldiers to occupy tactically important terrain at the Yangtse Ridge, likely in order to cut the supply route of an Indian unit at an outpost nearby, oust it from its position, and alter the status quo in the area. [...] Importantly, the clash took place at a key location. Yangtse is a strategically important area long contested by China and India, where another clash took place in 2021. A Chinese border village connected with a road was recently constructed to establish a Chinese presence on the ground. The area is close to the highly sensitive city of Tawang, which China has long listed as a key demand in its territorial dispute with India and which has particular significance for the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation and, potentially, for the future of Tibet. [...] The Galwan clash, which followed years of mounting tensions in the China-India territorial dispute and particularly along the the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the long, disputed, and undemarcated de facto border between the two sides, provoked a deep crisis in relations between New Delhi and Beijing and a massive deployment of troops along the border. In spite of partial disengagement in some areas as a result of bilateral military talks and some limited diplomatic interaction in international forums, China-India relations have remained mostly frozen since 2020 because of the border.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-30): India occupied Tawang in 1951 and removed Tibetan administration from the area.[3][4] China continues to claim Tawang as its region.[3] It is situated 448 km north-west of state capital Itanagar at an elevation of approximately 3,048 metres (10,000 ft). It lies to the north of the Tawang Chu river valley, roughly 10 miles (16 km) south of the Line of Actual Control with China. It is the site of a famous Gelugpa Buddhist Monastery. [...] Tawang was historically under the control of Tibet. During the 1914 Simla Conference, Tibet and British India signed an agreement delineating their common boundary in the Assam Himalaya region, which came to be known as the McMahon Line. By this agreement, Tibet relinquished several hundred square miles of its territory, including Tawang, to the British. The agreement was not recognized by China.[7] According to Tsering Shakya, the British records show that the Tibetans regarded the border agreed in 1914 as being conditional upon China accepting the Simla Convention. Since the British were unable to get China's acceptance, the Tibetans regarded the MacMahon line "invalid".[7][neutrality is disputed] [...] - ^ a b "Tawang is part of India: Dalai Lama". The Times of India. 4 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-03-08): Tawang: The Indian monastery town coveted by China - Published [...] Of all the disputed areas, Tawang remains high up on China's list of claims. [...] "Tawang is indispensable to China. The Tibetan spiritual leader the sixth Dalai Lama was born there [in the 17th Century]," said Mr Zhou, who attended India-China border talks as a military expert in the mid-1990s.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-12-21): Why is Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh important to China? [...] During the India-China Special Representative dialogues on boundary resolution, State Councilor Wang Yi apparently wanted to discuss status of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh as part of the dialogue. It is learnt that his Indian interlocutor, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, told Councilor Wang that they would have to permanently wind up the dialogue as Tawang is non-negotiable for India. The 22nd round of SR dialogue was held on this day three years ago. [...] Tawang and Yangtze are key to Tibetan Buddhism, which the Communist Party of China (CPC) is trying to co-opt as part of Sinicization of Tibet. Tawang is the birthplace of sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, who was reincarnation of the fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso or Great Fifth, the first Dalai Lama to become the spiritual and temporal head of Tibet.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-03-23): Tawang: The town living in the shadow of India-China war [...] Soon, China seized Mr Chewang's hometown Tawang, a few miles away from the disputed border between the two countries. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops remained there for around a month before withdrawing. [...] Perched some 3,000m (10,000 feet) above sea level in the westernmost part of Arunachal Pradesh, Tawang shares a boundary with China in the north and Bhutan to the south-west.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-03-23): Tawang: The town living in the shadow of India-China war - Published [...] Soon, China seized Mr Chewang's hometown Tawang, a few miles away from the disputed border between the two countries. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops remained there for around a month before withdrawing. [...] Perched some 3,000m (10,000 feet) above sea level in the westernmost part of Arunachal Pradesh, Tawang shares a boundary with China in the north and Bhutan to the south-west.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-10-09): The Buddhist monastery in Tawang is the biggest in India, and for a long time was one of the most important spiritual centers in the world. For all that, Tawang is still a quiet, secluded city. But when war broke out 50 years ago between India and China, Tawang found itself caught in the middle due to its militarily strategic and central location. Chinese troops occupied large portions of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on October 20, 1962, and Tawang was first bombed, then rocked by mortal shells and sprayed with machine gun fire. Tawang remained under Chinese control for one month, until China declared an armistice on November 20, 1962 and withdrew from Indian territory. [...] Superficially, the wounds from the war appear to have healed in Tawang. Only the Indian army's strong presence in the region serves as a reminder of the still-smoldering conflict. China continues to claim the land as belonging to its "south Tibet region". In all, around 180,000 Indian soldiers are stationed in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. In the 10,000-person city of Tawang, the Indian army has constructed a training academy aimed at deploying soldiers at high altitudes.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-03-08): High in the Himalayas, the holy town of Tawang is one of the most intractable issues in the border dispute between India and China - and a potential flashpoint for future conflict. [...] Of all the disputed areas, Tawang remains high up on China's list of claims. [...] "Tawang is indispensable to China. The Tibetan spiritual leader the sixth Dalai Lama was born there [in the 17th Century]," said Mr Zhou, who attended India-China border talks as a military expert in the mid-1990s.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-12-13): However, the Chinese ingression on December 9 at Tawang was not due to any fuzziness in the border but the outcome of a "planned attempt" by China to take control of the 17,000-ft (5,180-meter) peak, a senior commander in the Indian Army’s Eastern Command told The Diplomat. Apparently, the PLA attempted to take control of this peak in October 2021 as well, which also culminated in clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers. [...] Arunachal is important to China because control over it is vital for India’s defense of its Northeast. And Tawang in particular is critical to this defense. The strategic Bum La Pass, through which PLA troops invaded the Northeast in 1962, lies north of Tawang town. [...] China’s ingression at Tawang could indeed be linked to the situation in Ladakh, where tensions have not abated. Sixteen rounds of talks between senior Indian and Chinese commanders have led to disengagement of troops from "friction areas" at Galwan, Pangong Tso, Gogra, and Hot Springs. But Chinese troops remain in control of Depsang and Demchok. It is possible that the ingression at Tawang is aimed at getting India to concede more of China’s demands in Ladakh.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-30): The protest lodged by New Delhi on Tuesday followed reports in the Indian media that Beijing had released an official "standard map" showing the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin plateau as official Chinese territory. [...] New Delhi said two areas on a map released by Beijing’s state-owned Global Times newspaper belong to India. One was India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China considers to be part of Tibet, and where the two countries fought a full-scale border war in 1962. The second was Aksai Chin, a high-altitude strategic corridor linking Tibet to western China. [...] China claims Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas to be a part of southern Tibet and, in April, released a map renaming 11 places in the state as being within "Zangnan", or southern Tibet in Chinese. Aksai Chin, a plateau in the western Himalayas, is claimed by India but controlled by China.
Claim: Tawang is a territory of China (Tawang, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-03-05): Though Tawang has been administered by independent India for 72 years now, China maintains that the town is culturally and historically a part of Tibet and therefore Chinese territory. Since 2020, China is estimated to have occupied almost 1,000 square miles of previously Indian-controlled territory in border regions. Satellite images show Chinese-built bridges, roads and watchtowers stretching several miles into what was commonly considered the Indian side of the so-called "Line of Actual Control." [...] I steered our conversation toward his opinion, as an Arunachali in close proximity to the border, on China’s assertion that Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory. Younger people, Jambay said, "know only that they are Indian." His grandfather’s generation, though, saw themselves as Monpas who were part of a sprawling Tibetan Buddhist land, their cultural totems being the Tawang monastery and the Dalai Lama’s seat in Lhasa. Until 1951, when China annexed Tibet, trade and travel between Lhasa and Tawang — thousands of miles of mountain wilderness traversed on foot and on horseback — was ceaseless, Jambay said.