In the waters of the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Chinese coast guard vessels have clashed with Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships. In the air above the Taiwan Strait, Chinese warplanes have challenged Taiwanese jet fighters. And in the valleys of the Himalayas, Chinese troops have fought Indian soldiers.
Across several frontiers, China has been using its armed forces to dispute territory not internationally recognized as part of China but nevertheless claimed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In August 2023, Beijing laid out its current territorial claims for the world to see. The new edition of Chinese map this includes lands that are part of India and Russia, along with island territories such as Taiwan, and comprehensive stretches of the East and WPS that are also claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
China often invokes historical narratives to justify these claims. Beijing, for example, has said that the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which it claims under the name of the Diaoyu Islands, “have been an inherent territory of China since ancient times.” Chinese officials have used the same words to back China’s right to parts of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese government also claims that its sovereignty over the South China Sea is based on its own historic maritime maps and the recent 10 dash-line maps they created.
However, in certain periods since ancient times China has also held sway over other states in the region Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Vietnam. Yet Beijing is currently not laying claim to any of these.
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