It was at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) meeting on June 2 and 3 that China claimed Sakteng for the first time.
Covers an area of 650 sq km and lies in Bhutan’s eastern district. where there was no claim by chain so far.
Thimphu has rejected Beijing’s claim. Not only is the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary “an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan,” but also “at no point during the boundary discussions” between the two countries “has it featured as a disputed area,”
Even the package proposal that China put forward in 1996 refers only to disputed territories in central and western Bhutan. It makes no mention of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary or any other area in eastern Bhutan.
Indeed, there is no cartographic evidence supporting China’s claim over Sakteng.
