evidence: On the China-India border in early May, China asserted itself in the long-standing dispute with a rare mobilization of troops in the western sector of the dispute, which is also called Ladakh. In three locations, China moved forces up to what it views as the "line of actual control" (LAC)—but across what India views as the LAC. The scope, scale, and posture of Chinese actions on the border are perhaps unprecedented (Fravel 2020c). Unlike previous incidents on the border in 2013 at Depsang or 2014 at Chumar, China is now putting pressure on the LAC in the western sector, simultaneously, in multiple areas across a large front. [...] Landry PF. Decentralized authoritarianism in China: the Communist Party’s control of local elites in the post-Mao era. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2008. [...] Shirk SL. China: fragile superpower. New York: Oxford University Press; 2007.