evidence: The Sino-Bhutanese border dispute involves 764 square kilometers (sq km) of territory. Beijing claims 495 sq km of territory in the Jakurlung and Pasamlung Valleys in north-central Bhutan and another 269 sq km in western Bhutan, comprising the Doklam Plateau (Bhutan News Service, January 1, 2013). Doklam Plateau abuts Chumbi Valley, which like the Tawang salient that adjoins Bhutan’s eastern border has enormous strategic significance for China, Bhutan as well as India. India’s defense of its northeast would be undermined should Bhutan cede control over it to China. [...] With British influence in Bhutan growing in the latter half of the 19th century, China began asserting its suzerainty over the Himalayan kingdom, intervening in its affairs and even sending its troops to emphasize its claims there. [3] In 1910, China laid claim to Bhutan along with Nepal and Sikkim and in 1930, Mao Zedong named Bhutan and Nepal, among other countries, as falling within the "the correct boundaries of China." The People’s Republic of China asserted its claims over Bhutan even more aggressively. Maps in official publications showed parts of Bhutan as Chinese territory. During its annexation of Tibet, China occupied eight Bhutanese enclaves in western Bhutan. Such actions "scare[d] the small state of Bhutan." [4]