Now China claims territory in Bhutan

New Delhi, July 05: With a de-escalation yet to take place, China has now made a new territorial claim along the undisputed stretch of its border with Bhutan.

Going ahead with its expansionist theory, the Chinese have now made attempts to make territorial claims in eastern Bhutan.

Bhutan lodged a strong protest with China after the representative from Beijing sought to block a grant from the Global Investment Facility for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan.

At a virtual meeting of the GEF council, Beijing's representative said that the sanctuary was in an area, which was part of the disputed territory between China and Bhutan and was on the agenda of the China-Bhutan boundary talks.

The Chinese further opposed the GEF fund to Bhutan for the sanctuary. Though Bhutan and Beijing have been in talks to settle the boundary dispute since 1984, the territorial dispute between the two was limited to 764 sq kilometres of area. However China never registered a claim on the sanctuary or any other area in eastern Bhutan.

"The Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan and at no point during the boundary discussions between Bhutan and China has it featured as a disputed area," Bhutan said while rejecting the claim made by the Chinese.