China has rejected India’s recent move to identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on official Indian maps, calling the decision “illegal, null and void”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks on August 10 while reiterating Beijing’s territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as “Zangnan”.
“India’s move of attempting to replace names long been used by China with its so-called ‘standard names’ is illegal, null and void,” Guo said in a statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official website.
“Still less will it change the fact that Zangnan region belongs to China,” he added.
The comments came days after India formally identified 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on the official Indian map.
China refers to Tibet as Xizang and Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan. Beijing has for several years sought to reinforce its territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh by assigning Chinese names to locations in the state.
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has periodically released such lists since 2017. The latest list of Chinese names for places in Arunachal Pradesh was issued in April this year.
India has consistently rejected China’s attempts to rename locations in the northeastern state, maintaining that such actions do not alter the status of the places or the reality on the ground.
New Delhi has repeatedly asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and has rejected Beijing’s territorial claims over the state.
The latest exchange is part of the continuing disagreement between the two countries over Arunachal Pradesh. India maintains that assigning names to places in the state cannot change its status or the established administrative reality.
China, meanwhile, continues to claim the region as part of its territory. The two sides have also remained engaged on broader border issues along their disputed frontier.
