While studying history of China, one thing is clear. The Stronger China Becomes, the Weaker it Becomes. Let’s look at the patterns in Chinese History.
China was deemed a powerful country when it controlled that narrow strip of land. Peace leads to trade and prosperity in the interior of China. Almost every dynasty which ruled China ended because of disturbances in the interior. And Ladakh has the potential to trigger another Dynastic Cycle.
Going by historical facts, India Claims Over Kailash-Manasarovar And Parts of China-Occupied Tibet is a greater truth than present-day Chinese Occupied Indian Territories. While Zorawar Singh claimed Guge as a part of Ladakh and tried to take it over, China claims Shipki La, etc for being a part of Guge and Ladakh because it’s a part of the Tibetan Empire. Going by the strategic importance Minar and Darcheng have, commanding the access to Lipulekh, Maryum, and Tinker Passes and slicing G219 into two, it makes much sense for India to reassert Indian and Bhutanese sovereignty in a manner it deems fit.
Not many know that China claims both sides of Shipki La, the pass which connects India and Tibet through Himachal Pradesh. This is the pass that follows the path of the Sutlej River and is one of the major trading routes between the Indian side of the Himalayas and the Tibetan side. They simply didn’t have the numbers to fight a sustained war Xiongnu, Xianbei, Gokturk, Mongols, Timurids, and many others while they were just blips on the world maps who disappeared as fast as they appeared as powerbrokers.
China is an exotic, distant country that sends goodies through the trade route. All trade is controlled by the Central Asian Khanates who sometimes turned against China. China is the richest country in the area and the most powerful country. There were raids deep into China, and there were counter raids into Central Asia chasing the tribes, who would even dream that western Tibet is named as Huna-Desa after the Xiongnu/Huns or a Mongol Empire ruling China with a firm grip for a century.
All these wars in which China fought against the tribes centered around two important things. The lands of engagement have nothing it’s distant, inhospitable and the army can live off the land. The steppe tribes should be stopped from raiding China and pillaging the country.
Summing up, this is the history of China, secure the borders to ensure peace in the country. And because of the hardships involved in securing the borders, China collapsed into chaos. This is what is called a Dynastic Cycle in China. A distant army or peasantry in the interior rebels due to the hardships they are facing because of the marauding mobs or lack of provisions. The rebellion spreads and topples the ruling government. After a few decades of chaos, the order is established and the cycle repeats again.
If you compare the four images, you will notice that, though boundaries changed, the first and third maps are almost identical, and the second and fourth – the current map of China and the map of Qing China after the 10 Great Campaigns is more or less the same – and that’s the real issue with China.
China never ruled these territories and always left the rule to the locals in the way they deemed fit. In other words, China doesn’t know how to rule Tibet or Dhungharia/Altishahr. Now, China is in a situation where people who have no option but to be Chinese vassals due to the tyranny of geography are opposing the same thing which they are anyways going to do 50 years after China vacates those territories.
China is trying to manage territories that it never managed and it has no clue how to manage them which seems the core problem. And the more the opposition China gets from these territories, the more the oppression in the Chinese army which is not happy because it’s away from home in all impossible locations, and people are not happy because they are drained to fund these futile campaigns.
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