March 1959, but
without success.

Chinese control of Tibet, involving the construction of numerous roads,
airstrips, and military installations, as well as differences concerning
the international border, led in 1959 to conflicts with India, a country
which had previously sided with the new China in international affairs.
Indeed, the borders were uncertain and looked different depending on
whether one used Manchu or Indian maps. China's other border problem was
with Burma. Early in 1960 the two countries concluded a border agreement
which ended disputes dating from British colonial times.

Very early in its existence Communist China assumed control of Sinkiang,
Chinese Central Asia, a large area originally inhabited by Turkish and
Mongolian tribes and states, later conquered by the Manchu, and then
integrated into China in the early nineteenth century. The communist
action was to be expected, although after the Revolution of 1911 Chinese
rule over this area had been spotty, and during the Pacific War some
Soviet-inspired hope had existed that Sinkiang might gain independence,
following the example of Outer Mongolia, another country which had been
attached to the Manchu until 1911 and which, with Russian assistance,
had gained its independence from China. Sinkiang is of great importance
to Communist China as the site of large sources of oil and of atomic
industries and testing grounds. The government has stimulated and often
forced Chinese immigration into Sinkiang, so that the erstwhile Turkish
and Mongolian majorities have become minorities, envious of their ethnic
brothers in Soviet Central Asia who enjoy a much higher standard of
living and more freedom.

Inner Mongolia had a brief dream of independence under Japanese
protection during the war. But the majority of the population were
Chinese, and already before the Pacific War, the country had been
divided into three Chinese provinces, of which the Chinese Communists
gained control without delay.

In general, when the Chinese Communists discuss territorial claims, they
appear to seek the restoration of borders that China claimed in the
eighteenth century. Thus, they make occasional remarks about the Hi area
and parts of Eastern Siberia, which the Manchu either lost to the
Russians or claimed as their territory. North Vietnam is probably aware
that Imperial China exercised political rights over Tongking and Annam
(the present-day North and part of South Vietnam).