Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
4.3% (FY02)
Transnational Issues China
Disputes - international:
involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia,
Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; claimants in
November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in
the South China Sea", a mechanism to ease tension but which fell
short of a legally binding "code of conduct"; much of the rugged,
militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but the two sides
have participated in more than 13 rounds of joint working group
sessions on this issue; India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to
China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of
disputed Kashmir; China, as well as Taiwan, claims
Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) islands;
negotiations with Tajikistan resolved the longstanding boundary
dispute; China and Kazakhstan have resolved their border dispute and
are working to delimit their large open borders to control
population migration, illegal activities, and trade; Kyrgyzstan's
constitutional court rules that 1,270 sq km ceded to China in 2000
delimitation agreement were legally transferred; certain islands in
Yalu and Tumen rivers are in uncontested dispute with North Korea
and a section of boundary around Mount Paektu is indefinite - China
objects to illegal migration of North Koreans into northern China;
China continues to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the
disputed alluvial islands with Russia at the confluence of the Amur
and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun river as part of
the 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation;
boundary agreements signed in 2002 with Tajikistan cedes 1,000 sq km
of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China's relinquishing
claims to 28,000 sq km; demarcation of land boundary with Vietnam
continues but maritime boundary and joint fishing zone agreement
remains unratified; China occupies Paracel Islands also claimed by
Vietnam and Taiwan
Illicit drugs:
major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden
Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for
chemical precursors and methamphetamine
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Christmas Island
Introduction Christmas Island
Background:
Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed
and settlement was begun by the UK in 1888. Phosphate mining began
in the 1890s. The UK transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958.
Almost two-thirds of the island has been declared a national park.
Geography Christmas Island