It is well known to even the casual observer of contemporary Chinese politics that Beijing has long placed a premium on protecting the national unity and territorial integrity of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is also common knowledge that accomplishing both tasks has often proved to be quite daunting, especially along China's territorial periphery. However, the dynamics encompassed within these dual missions are still at best poorly understood. Why have some conflicts within China's frontiers proven quite intractable, while others have been mitigated? How assertive has the PRC been in dealing with such spaces, those who reside there, and the states that border them? Is China becoming more or less aggressive in this regard? Yufan Hao and Bill K. P. Chou's China's Policies on Its Borderlands and Their International Implications is intended to provide new answers to such crucial queries.
The book's primary strength lies in its survey...
