China's claim to Aranachal Pradesh

China claims Arunachal Pradesh, currently controlled by India. The area is 83,000 sq. km and 1.3 million people. The area is twice Taiwan's 36,000 sq. km. Here are a map and picture of the region from Wikipedia, highlighted in red in the northeast of India.





China's claim to the territory goes back it's argument that the McMahon Line is illegitimate. The McMahon Line was drawn in 1913-1914 by British officer Henry McMahon and agreed to by the India but not China. China said Arunachal Pradesh was part of Tibet, and Tibet was part of China.

What's different about this territorial dispute other than it's tremendous size is that it's the only one which there is a sizable population living in the territory. As long as no one lives in disputed land, governments have a free hand to negotiate it away as we saw with Tajikistan last year when they ceded 1,000 sq. km to China. But when there are large numbers of citizens living on the land, as in Arunachal Pradesh, the Falkland Islands, Gilbralter, the West Bank, giving land away without their approval becomes nearly impossible.

I haven't seen any news regarding this dispute. Could China strike a deal with India like it did Tajikistan, whereby China drops it claim in exchange for a small piece of the territory? China had claimed 28,000 sq. km of Tajikistan but settled for 1,000.

Has anyone heard any news on this dispute? What are the viable options for China gaining any of the territory?

The issue of South Tibet is basically just a bargaining chip for Aksai Chin, since South Tibet is claimed by RoC and was part of Qing Empire. However, Aksai Chin is (or was, due to the new railroad) virtual to China's control of Tibet and / or strategic mobilization for any sort of conflict with India. So for the PRC, Aksai Chin is actually more important, despite being just barren land.

Overriding both disputes is independence movements in Tibet, Indian annexation of Skkim, possible future annexation of Butan, water rights, independence movements in Assam, strategic passage through either Pakistan and/or Myanmar (thus control of Indian Ocean), fear of encirclement by either India and China by either India or China. (String of Pearls / Containment of China) China and India's issues are strategic in nature, the border disputes are a symptom of strategic competition rather than the cause of it. This similar to how Sino-Soviet border dispute almost lead to a nuclear war in 1969, but completely melted away after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (such as the settlement with Tajikistan in your example) Unless the underline factors for strategic competition is gone, the border dispute will always be present.