inate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the
Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an
adjunct to the PLA in wartime)

Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 361,267,706 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 198,398,601 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 10,273,696 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $12.608 billion (FY99);
note-Western analysts believe that China's real defense spending is
several times higher than the official figure because several
significant items are funded elsewhere

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: NA%

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: boundary with India in dispute; dispute
over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remain
to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; most of the boundary
with Tajikistan in dispute; 33-km section of boundary with North
Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a
complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines,
Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with
Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China,
but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered
Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; sections
of land border with Vietnam are indefinite

Illicit drugs: major transshipment point for heroin produced in
the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem

======================================================================

@Christmas Island
----------------

Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of
Indonesia

Geographic coordinates: 10 30 S, 105 40 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 135 sq km
land: 135 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area--comparative: about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 138.9 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm

Climate: tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds

Terrain: steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Murray Hill 361 m

Natural res