I am intrigued by this map of the so-called Heihe–Tengchong Line that is making the rounds of the English tweeting Chinese commentators that I follow. It shows that according to 2002 statistics, west of the line, 57% of the area is inhabited by only 6% of the Chinese population, east of the line, 43% of the area, is inhabited by the majority 94% of Chinese the population. Apparently these percentages are little changed from 1935 which is probably why the CPC are making such a great effort to build infrastructure in the West and are improving transport links such as high-speed rail. This graphic should make #India and #Russia feel much more comfortable about the future war over resources (water in particular) in the Far East. As the heat map shows, any serious movements of military or civilian people to the West and North West of China to threaten these countries will be easy to spot.
