boundary with India in dispute; dispute over
at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be
settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary
with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary with North
Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a
complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines,
Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with
Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but
claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered
Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; agreement
on land border with Vietnam was signed in December 1999, but details
of alignment have not yet been made public

major transshipment point for heroin produced in the
Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem