New research shows that  China has quietly been invading its Himalayan neighbour Bhutan for years, media reports said.

A paper published by the journal Foreign Policy stated China has built an entire town, replete with roads, a power plant, two CPC buildings, a communications base, military and police outposts and a warehouse, almost 8 km into Bhutan, reports news.com.au.

What Beijing has already done in the South China Sea – building outposts and claiming dubious sovereignty – is now also being done in the Himalayas, according to the reports.

What’s worse for Bhutan is that it isn’t even the real target for Beijing. Rather, it’s become caught in a geopolitical sparring match, the news portal reported.

“This involves a strategy that is more provocative than anything China has done on its land borders in the past,” wrote Robert Barnett in Foreign Policy earlier this month as quoted by the news portal.

“The settlement of an entire area within another country goes far beyond the forward patrolling and occasional road-building.”