Bhutan denies reports of land grab by Chinese in Doklam

Bhutan has rejected reports of the Chinese having established villages inside Bhutanese territory in Doklam. Major General Vetsop Namgyel, Bhutan's Ambassador to India, said, "There is no Chinese village inside Bhutan." The news spread on social media after a Chinese journalist from state-affiliated media, Shen Shiwi, posted pictures of a village with satellite imagery, claiming that it was near Doklam.He later deleted the tweet when it was widely picked up on social media and it was pointed out that the place pointed out by Shen Shiwi was well within Bhutanese territory.

Some media reports said that the new reported Chinese settlement lies within Bhutan's present claim line. Responding to denial by Bhutan, Ruser tweeted: "Weird statement considering there's satellite imagery and extensive photos from the ground of this village inside Bhutan, 9 kilometres from the Doklam face-off site. Seems like a blatant untruth to me." Ruser, a satellite imagery analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Here's a CGTN news producer openly admiting that China has occupied and now populated part of a sovereign country. This Pangda village has been constructed (as shown by the included map) ~2.5km beyond Bhutan's international border. China now baselessly claims about 12% of Bhutan. https://t.co/3TxNSffYdJ pic.twitter.com/fEAgWXk7Ln

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) November 19, 2020