copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-06-06): China and India have a disputed border territory known as Aksai Chin. It is primarily part of Hotan County, located in the southwestern section of Hotan Prefecture in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, with a tiny portion on the southeast & south sides falling into the Tibet Autonomous Region. [...] The territory of Aksai Chin is situated at the crossroads of the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, and India. Although India disputes it, it is administered by China. One of the vital boundary disputes between India and China is the Aksai Chin. Aksai Chin is a salt desert at a significantly higher altitude, and soda plain is another name for Aksai Chin. The area is devoid of human settlement. Because of the Himalayas or other mountains, the region receives minimal precipitation but absorbs the Indian monsoon. [...] In the above topic, we have read about the importance of the Aksai Chin. China administers the Aksai Chin region, including Hotan County in Xinjiang’s Hotan Prefecture and Rutog County in Tibet’s Ngari Prefecture. India declares it as part of the Ladakh Union Territory’s Leh District. It is located in the eastern section of Kashmir and has been a source of contention between China and India since the late 1950s. Go through the complete notes to better understand the geographical location, Indian disputes, and history of the Aksai chin.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-29): The site identified in this report lies in Aksai Chin, East of the Line of Actual Control, in territory held by China and historically claimed by India. [...] In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Tuesday, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar rubbished China's latest move to claim Indian territory as its own by including Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin in its new "standard map". [...] "China's creation of permanent bunkers and other fortifications in Aksai Chin meshes with its broader intransigence, with no sign that it is willing to climb down to some extent to end the extended military standoff with India," says Brahma Chellaney, among India's most authoritative watchers of China. "The construction activity in Aksai Chin, in fact, mirrors China's creation of new permanent military structures in other border areas extending from eastern Ladakh and the middle sector to the Arunachal-Tibet frontier."
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-06-17): At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a bloody brawl with Chinese troops on Monday in the Galwan Valley, close to Aksai Chin, an area controlled by China but claimed by both countries. It is unclear if or how many Chinese soldiers died. Both sides have accused the other of overstepping the de facto border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that runs along the western sector of the valley. The details of the encounter remain confused, however, and may never be fully clear. [...] Aksai Chin,the area in contention, is claimed as part of Xinjiang by China and Ladakh by India. It is cold and inhospitable, draped in snow with temperatures around freezing, even in summer. Located high in the Himalayas, the average altitude is 14,000 feet (4,200 meters), almost double the height where altitude sickness kicks in, meaning any humans in the area have to undergo tedious, gradual acclimatisation or suffer crippling headaches, nausea and fatigue. [...] Aksai Chin is part of greater Kashmir, and after the bloody war between Pakistan and India in 1947 resulted in the partition of that region, the border between China and India was left ill-defined.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-06-22): No Chinese map showed Aksai Chin as its territory before 1920s. But through 1950s, China captured Aksai Chin and consolidated its position in 1962 war. In Short - No Chinese map showed Aksai Chin as its territory before 1920s - Aksai Chin was historically part of Ladakh, and British India since mid-19th century - China militarily captured Aksai Chin through 1950s and during 1962 war Aksai Chin is almost the size of Bhutan and little smaller than Switzerland. Most of it is in occupation of China, which captured the region during 1950s and consolidated its military grip over the area during the 1962 India-China war, rejecting all Indian attempts to settle border disputes peacefully.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-29): China, much like Arunachal Pradesh, lays an ‘ancient claim’ to Aksai Chin. A piece in India Today says Beijing lays claim to Aksai China as part of China’s medieval empire. [...] India Today quoted historian Ramchandra Guha as writing in his book India After Gandhi, "No official Chinese maps showed Aksai Chin as part of China before the 1920s, and a Sinkiang (Xinjiang) map of the 1930s showed the Kunlun (the mountains) rather than the Karakoram (range) to have been the customary boundary - which had been the Indian claim all along."
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-02): The first of the territories, Aksai Chin, is administered by China and claimed by India; it is mostly uninhabited high-altitude wasteland but with some significant pasture lands at the margins.[1] It lies at the intersection of Kashmir, Tibet and Xinjiang, and is crossed by China's Xinjiang-Tibet Highway; the other disputed territory is south of the McMahon Line, in the area formerly known as the North-East Frontier Agency and now a state called Arunachal Pradesh. It is administered by India and claimed by China. The McMahon Line was signed between British India and Tibet to form part of the 1914 Simla Convention, but the latter was never ratified by China.[2] China disowns the McMahon Line agreement, stating that Tibet was not independent when it signed the Simla Convention. [...] Aksai Chin [edit]From the area's lowest point on the Karakash River at about 14,000 feet (4,300 m) to the glaciated peaks up to 22,500 feet (6,900 m) above sea level, Aksai Chin is a desolate, largely uninhabited area. It covers an area of about 37,244 square kilometres (14,380 sq mi). The desolation of this area meant that it had no significant human importance other than ancient trade routes crossing it, providing brief passage during summer for caravans of yaks from Xinjiang and Tibet.[9]
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-30): Indian media have reported that the map shows the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai Chin plateau as China's territory. [...] "China has even in the past put out maps which claim the territories which are not China's, which belong to other countries. This is an old habit of theirs," he told TV channel NDTV on Tuesday. [...] China says it considers the whole of Arunachal Pradesh its territory, calling it "South Tibet" - a claim India firmly rejects. India claims the Aksai Chin plateau in the Himalayas, which is controlled by China.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-08-31): - China lays claims to several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Buddhist Ladakh - Beijing controls the disputed territories of Aksai Chin and Shaksgam Tract - Aksai Chin is a vital piece of land for Beijing because it connects Tibet and Xinjiang [...] China seized Aksai Chin when it defeated India in the 1962 war, but Aksai Chin isn't the only part of the Jammu and Kashmir that's under Chinese control. [...] "China continues to control Aksai Chin and India continues to claim Aksai Chin — whether it is part of Jammu and Kashmir or [a] union territory, I don't think it makes any real difference," he said.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-13): Aksai Chin (Urdu: اکسای چن, Chinese: 阿克赛钦, Ākèsàiqīn) is a region 37,555 km² (16,481 sq mi) which lies at the juncture of China, Pakistan, and India. It consists of about one fifth of Kashmir and one of the driest place and true desert in the world that receive less rain than the Polar desert. It is ruled by China but claimed by the Republic of India. Aksai Chin is one of the two main border disputes between India and China. The other is the dispute over Arunachal Pradesh. Aksai Chin (the name literally means "Chin's desert of white stones") is a very large high-altitude hot desert of salt with sand dunes and yareta (a type of cushioned plants) that reaches heights up to 4,500 metres. It covers an area of 37,555 km² (16,481 sq mi) of the disputed territory. Geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau, Aksai Chin itself is a plateau and it is often called the "Soda Plain". The region is almost uninhabited, has no permanent settlements, and receives no rain or snow as the Himalayan and other mountains block the rains from the Indian monsoon. Pakistan recognizes it as part of China, however India has objected to this and claims all the territory. In boundary talks in 1960 Chinese officials shown a map drawn by General Staff of the Chinese Army in 1918 shows the territory as part of China. [...] True Map of Aksai Chin as per Indian claim
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-08): Geographically, Aksai Chin is a southwestward extension of the Plateau of Tibet. The territory administered by China is situated largely in the southernmost part of the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China, with a small portion on the southeast and south sides lying within the extreme western limit of the Tibet Autonomous Region. With an average elevation of some 17,000 feet (5,180 metres), Aksai Chin consists largely of a high, isolated, inhospitable, and mostly uninhabitable plain bordered to the west and southwest by the Karakoram Range and to the north and northeast by the Kunlun Mountains. Its terrain is more rugged to the northwest, and there is internal drainage into small alkaline lakes in the east. The climate is cold and dry, with most of the little precipitation the region receives falling in the summer months of July and August. Because of its remoteness and isolation, Aksai Chin was long an ignored corner of the subcontinent, but the Chinese built a military road through it in the 1950s in order to connect Tibet with Xinjiang. The Indian discovery of the road and objection to the Chinese presence in the sector was one of the factors leading to sharp border clashes between the two countries in 1962. At the conclusion of the conflict, China retained control of about 14,700 square miles (38,000 square km) of territory in Aksai Chin. The area remained a point of contention between the two countries.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-10-06): The extreme controversy of whether Aksai Chin (Eastern Ladakh) is part of India or a "part of China" has heightened conflict between India and China in recent months. It should be very clear that Aksai Chin also known as Eastern Ladakh is not a part of China as India has historically never shared a border with China. In fact if it had not been for the Chinese occupation of East Turkistan in 1949 and Tibet in 1950, no border would exist connecting India and China. China’s false claims regarding Aksai Chin as being "a part of China" is not unique as China also falsely claims East Turkistan, Tibet, South Mongolia, Manchuria, and parts of other surrounding countries as being "part of China." However, in the case of Aksai Chin (Eastern Ladakh), the Chinese have pushed a false narrative claiming that the term ‘Aksai Chin’ is a Chinese term and that the "Chin" in ‘Aksai Chin’ refers to China. [...] Aksai Chin (Eastern Ladakh) was annexed into Chinese occupied East Turkistan, or what China calls "Xinjiang" following the Sino-India War of 1962. Looking at historical data and maps pre-1962, including maps created by the British, Chinese, East Turkistan, Indian, Russian, and United States governments, we can see that since at least 1865 Aksai Chin (Eastern Ladakh) was exclusively marked as being a part of India.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-06-16): The incident occurred during a "deescalation process" underway in the Galwan Valley in the disputed Aksai Chin-Ladakh area, where a large troop build-up has reportedly been taking place for weeks now on both sides of the border, before senior military commanders began talks earlier this month. [...] The LAC runs between Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin and the rest of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region. [...] Aksai Chin is administered by China as part of Xinjiang, but is also claimed by the Indian government as part of Ladakh.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-06-17): The site of the clash was on the de facto border - the Line of Actual Control or LAC - between the two countries. India and China share a border that is more than 3,440km (2,100 miles) long and have overlapping territorial claims. The Galwan river valley, with its harsh climate and high altitude terrain, lies along the western sector of the LAC and close to Aksai Chin, a disputed area claimed by India but controlled by China. [...] In May, media reports said Chinese forces had put up tents, dug trenches and moved heavy equipment several kilometres inside what had been regarded by India as its territory.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-04-09): Highway G219 runs for about 112 miles near the eastern border of the region at a distance of some 60–70 difficult miles from the LAC. About six miles west of the Indian side of the LAC, the 160-mile Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) section of the road between the Karakoram Pass and Leh (about 50 miles northwest of Pangong Lake) was upgraded in 2019.11 Both China and India have been improving the road, rail, and air transportation infrastructure through this difficult terrain for many years, resulting in an infrastructure construction arms race. Most of the Aksai Chin, from the Depsang Plains in the north to Gogra/Hot Springs, is administered by Hotan county in Xinjiang. The area from Gogra/Hot Springs to the south is part of Ngari/Ali prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Even though the southern portion of the Aksai Chin is located in the western reaches of Tibet, the Nanjiang (south Xinjiang) Military District subordinate to the Xinjiang MD is responsible for military operations in the disputed area, including all of Ngari.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-31): India protested after Beijing released the map showing north-eastern Arunachal Pradesh state and the disputed Aksai Chin plateau as China's territory. [...] "It is a routine practice in China's exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. [...] China says it considers the whole of Arunachal Pradesh its territory, calling it "South Tibet" - a claim India firmly rejects. India claims the Aksai Chin plateau in the Himalayas, which is controlled by China.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-06-18): The Ladakh region is especially complex, with particularly unusual features. First, there is Aksai Chin, a territory that India has long claimed but China occupies. China began building a road through the area in 1956—linking Tibet to Xinjiang—and has occupied it since 1962. There is also territory that Pakistan ceded to China in 1963. Surveying and mapping the region’s terrain historically proved immensely challenging. A forthcoming history of the Ladakh region points out how colonial-era efforts to survey this area using natural features such as watersheds as focal points did not always align with cartographic needs for precision, and, importantly, ideas of where a country’s territory begins and ends. [...] Explanations circulating in the Indian and international media cover a broad range: China was unhappy with India’s actions in August 2019 to end Jammu and Kashmir’s traditional autonomy, one result of which was the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh; China saw India’s recent road construction work in the area as a change to the status quo and a challenge to its strategic position; China dislikes India drawing closer to the United States and its allies in Asia; China seeks to distract attention from its part in the global pandemic; and the frank appraisal that India’s growing military imbalance with China, and China’s "political will" to deploy its might under President Xi Jinping, is the real difference.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-06-18): The western section, where the most recent clash took place, divides India’s Ladakh region and the Chinese-administered Aksai Chin in the heavily-contested Kashmir region. [...] China holds the area of Aksai Chin, which it says is part of Xinjiang. India believes it is part of Ladakh. [...] The border between Ladakh and Aksai Chin is a result of the 1962 war between India and China, roughly marking where the two armies finished fighting more than half a century ago.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-03-06): Eastern Ladakh refers to the area of the Indian union territory of Ladakh currently under the administrative control of the Government of India that lies east of the Indus River and west of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that separates it from the Aksai Chin area of Ladakh, held by Beijing since the first China-India War of 1962. Eastern Ladakh is of critical geostrategic importance for China and India from the perspective of each country’s vital national interests. The driver for China is energy security, while for India it is territorial integrity. The 2025–2030 timeframe represents the optimum window of opportunity for China and the maximum period of vulnerability for India, reflecting the significant asymmetric balance of power in favour of China. Absent a modus vivendi between these two nuclear-armed adversaries, conventional war (and the spectre of nuclear war) will be impossible to avoid.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-11-01): Consider the maps of India that each Quad country utilizes. U.S. maps, such as this from the CIA, highlight India’s claim over Aksai Chin; they do not imply Chinese sovereignty even as they show the border and the line of actual control separately. Maps published by the Australian government, however, signal that Aksai Chin is actually part of China. The same holds true with both Japan’s foreign ministry and Japan’s premier NGO, which is funded by its Foreign Ministry. Few diplomats in Washington, Canberra, or Tokyo may think about such maps. In the State Department, resident cartographers might fall on the ladder of prestige slightly below the deputy assistant coffee-getter. Smug dismissiveness of Indian concerns, however, will not advance the Quad but will instead enforce the perception that the United States, Australia, and Japan do not fully appreciate India’s security concerns or its previous victimization by China (and its vassals). Simply put, if the Quad is going to move forward, both as a strategic dialogue and perhaps more, it is time that not only the United States but also Australia and Japan side unequivocally with India. This means, in practice, jointly recognizing that Aksai Chin is occupied Indian territory, as much a part of Ladakh as Kargil and Leh. Not only should the maps of all Quad members reflect this, but also their policies. The days in which a man like Kissinger can treat the world’s largest democracy as a junior partner should be over.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-11-09): China and India faced off again in 2020, this time at the disputed western sector of the border that straddles the Indian-administered territory of Ladakh, the Chinese-administered region of Aksai Chin, and Tibet. Skirmishes broke out at several points along the LAC in this area—including Galwan Valley, Pangong Lake, and others—resulting in deaths on both sides. This marked the first time in decades that border tensions between China and India resulted in fatalities, and the flashpoint remains a major source of tension between the two countries. [...] China is not just focusing on building airports and related infrastructure. In the wake of the 2020 border clashes between Chinese and Indian troops, both countries have pushed to strengthen their military footholds along key disputed parts of the border. One area of particular concern for China and India is Pangong Lake (also known as Pangong Tso), which stretches some 135 km across the mountainous terrain of northern India, Aksai Chin, and western Tibet. The LAC runs north-south over the lake, splitting it roughly evenly between Chinese and Indian control. Along the northern edge of the lake, Chinese and Indian troops are positioned at dozens of points near the LAC on the mountainous "fingers" that jut out into the lake.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-30): India said on Tuesday that it had lodged a "strong protest" with China a day after Beijing released the 2023 edition of its standard map showing Aksai Chin — an area of Kashmir mostly controlled by China — and the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh within Chinese territory. [...] The dispute escalated into a full-fledged war in 1962 when, according to India, China occupied 38,000 square kilometers of Aksai Chin. India still claims the China-occupied region as part of its Ladakh territory while China insists that Aksai Chin was long part of the ancient Chinese empire. [...] On Tuesday, spokesperson Bagchi said that China's claims to Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh have "no basis" and that steps like the release of the map "only complicate the resolution of the boundary question."
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-07-02): The disputed Aksai Chin-Ladakh area [...] Another point of contention is the China National Highway 219 (G219) connecting Xinjiang to Tibet. Originally built in 1957 and made of gravel, G219 was upgraded to asphalt in 2013. About 179km of the highway passes through the disputed Aksai Chin plateau. [...] The Galwan River is the highest ridge line and overlooks the DSDBO road, posing a direct threat to the highway’s security. By controlling this area China can keep India’s claims on the Aksai Chin plateau in check. India claims China has recently begun amassing troops in the LAC and venturing deeper into the contested area.
Claim: Aksai Chin is a territory of China (Aksai Chin, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-11-10): The longest disputed border in the world, the India-China boundary has experienced recurring conflicts since 1962. Incursions tend to occur in two distinct regions: Aksai Chin, a region north of Nepal that is controlled by China but claimed by India, and Arunachal Pradesh, a region east of Bhutan that is controlled by India but claimed by China. [...] Although hotspots occur throughout Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, the researchers’ game-theory analysis indicates that only the incursions in Aksai Chin are part of a coordinated effort. Building on insights from game theory, the researchers predict that China is trying to establish permanent control over Aksai Chin by allocating more troops for a longer period of time than India. [...] "Knowing there are more incursions in the western sector is not a surprise," he said. "Aksai Chin is a strategic area that China wants to develop, so it’s very critical to them. It’s a vital passageway between China and the Chinese autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang."