Pangda (庞达村) is a village constructed by China in the

Doklam Doklam (), called Donglang ( zh, c=洞朗) by China, is an area in Chumbi Valley with a high plateau and a valley, lying between China's Yadong County to the north, Bhutan's Haa District to the east and India's Sikkim state to the west. Since ...

region near the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

trijunction. It is approximately 10 km east of the trijunction in territory claimed by China but shown as part of Bhutan in international maps. The village was constructed in 2020 on the bank of the Amo Chhu river (or Torsa River). Media reports in November 2020 said that the village was constructed approximately within Bhutanese territory based on third-party satellite images. This was later denied by Bhutan and China.

History

Background

China has had ongoing claims to the

region at the border between its

Yadong County Yadong County (), also known by its Tibetan name Dromo/Tromo County () is a frontier county and trade-market of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, part of its Shigatse Prefecture. Yadong County is coextensive with the Chumbi valley that ext ...

and Bhutan's

Haa District Haa District ( Dzongkha: ཧཱ་རྫོང་ཁག; Wylie: ''Haa rzong-khag;'' alternative spellings include "Ha") is one of the 20 dzongkhag or districts comprising Bhutan. An alternative name for the district is "Hidden-Land Rice Vall ...

near the trijunction with India. The region is the basin of a small stream called Doklam stream (also called Torsa Nala), which originates on the Doklam plateau and joins the Amo Chhu river 15 km downstream. In 2017, Indian and Chinese forces skirmished on the Doklam plateau after China attempted to extend a road across the Doklam stream towards the Zhompelri ridge that overlooks the Indian plains. After several injuries on both sides, India and China withdrew their forces to previously held positions, effectively ending the standoff.India, China agree to pull back troops to resolve tense border dispute
, The Washington Post, 28 August 2017 Despite the disengagement, satellite imagery showed that China continued to develop the area and reinforce the disputed region.

Pangda village

Satellite images on 28 October 2020 showed a new village being constructed on the banks of Amo Chhu. Chinese state media claimed that residents moved into the new village in September 2020 from Shangdui village in

Yadong county Yadong County (), also known by its Tibetan name Dromo/Tromo County () is a frontier county and trade-market of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, part of its Shigatse Prefecture. Yadong County is coextensive with the Chumbi valley that ext ...

. In November 2020, media reports said that the village was constructed approximately within Bhutanese territory based on third-party open source maps. The reports were denied by the Chinese

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, ''

The Bhutanese ''The Bhutanese'' is a newspaper based in Bhutan. It was founded by the investigative journalist Tenzing Lamsang in February 2012. Originally it was published bi-weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays but, since August 2013, only weekly on Saturdays ...

'', and the Bhutanese ambassador to India, who said that "there is no Chinese village inside Bhutan." Following the denial of Pangda's encroachment of the Bhutanese border, Chinese media portrayed the accusations as an attempt by India to sow discord between Bhutan and China and drive a wedge between the two nations. Further construction took place in 2021. This primarily consisted of a cluster of 38 new buildings north of the primary settlement and was completed in November. The village was classified as

xiaokang Moderately prosperous society or Xiaokang society (), is a Chinese term, originally of Confucianism, used to describe a society composed of a functional middle-class. In December 1979, Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, first propose ...

, or moderately well-off, according to official Chinese statements.

Geography

Pangda village was constructed directly on the banks of the Torsa River, 10 km south of any other Chinese settlement in the region. It appears to have been constructed on a sandbank. There is one road that leads out of the village, and a small retaining wall was constructed to keep floodwaters out of the village.

Demographics

According to Chinese state media in 2020, there were 27 households in the village with 124 people. There are two administrative buildings in the village, and the villagers are reported to be primarily employed in tourism, fishing, and border patrol.

Map

References

{{Reflist Bhutan–China border