evidence: "The situation is serious. The Chinese have come into territory which they themselves accepted as part of India. It has completely changed the status quo," says Ajai Shukla, an Indian military expert who served as a colonel in the army. [...] The new federally-administered Ladakh included Aksai Chin, an area India claims but China controls. [...] China already controls the Aksai Chin area further east of Ladakh and this region, claimed by India, is strategically important for Beijing as it connects its Xinjiang province with western Tibet.