Beijing’s Power and China’s Borders: Twenty Neighbors in Asia

China shares borders with 20 neighboring countries--more than any other country in the world. Each of the neighbors has its own national interests, and in some cases, that includes territorial and maritime jurisdictional claims in places that China also claims.

This book brings together historians, geographers, political scientists, and legal scholars to examine each of China''s twenty land or sea borders. Each chapter details the history and status of boundary setting and disputes and the ongoing management of transnational interactions--trade, resource exploitation, fishing rights, and population movements.

Country coverage includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Indonesia, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, The Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.

An introduction and a concluding chapter draw out the implications of the book''s twenty case studies and identify areas where border disputes could flare up in the context of China''s emergence as a regional hegemon and as a sea power.

Bruce Elleman is Professor at the Maritime History Department of the U.S. Naval War College

Stephen Kotkin is John P. Birkelund ’52 Professor in History and International Affairs. Acting Director, Program in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Princeton University, USA

Clive Schofield is Director of Research at the Australian Centre for Ocean Resource and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia