Creating ‘Facts on the Mountains’: China’s Gray Zone Playbook in the Himalayas
Shinji Yamaguchi
China’s policy in the Himalayas represents a calculated and systematic application of the gray zone strategy previously honed in its maritime territorial disputes. Rather than relying solely on direct military action, Beijing employs a military-civil fusion model to reshape the strategic landscape along the border. Central to this effort is an aggressive infrastructure push—building roads, railways, airfields, and strategically placed border villages—that alters the region’s logistical and demographic realities. These developments serve to establish de facto control without crossing the threshold of open conflict, gradually shifting the status quo in China’s favor. This strategy challenges India’s long-standing geographic and temporal advantages by imposing a slow, persistent pressure across the frontier. This issue brief examines the core elements of China’s Himalayan strategy and its implications, highlighting how Beijing’s calculated actions are redefining the security dynamics of the region through means that remain just below the level of conventional warfare.
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