According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs has recently renamed an additional 30 locations in Arunachal Pradesh as part of what it asserts as Zangnan, or an extension of the Tibetan autonomous region, in order to assert its claim over the area.
On Saturday, the Ministry published the country’s latest set of “standardised” names which included 11 residential areas, 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass and a piece of land. The names of the places it has renamed is not yet known. According to the SCMP report, each of these names was presented in Chinese characters, Tibetan script, and pinyin, which represents the Roman alphabet version of Mandarin Chinese.
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Standardization of Geographical Names in Arunachal Pradesh and Zangnan Locations
“In accordance with the relevant provisions of the State Council [China’s cabinet] on the management of geographical names, we in conjunction with the relevant departments have standardised some of the geographical names in Zangnan of China,” the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs as quoted by the South China Morning Post.
According to a report from the state-run Global Times, in April of last year, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced the third installment of standardized name changes for 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which included two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers. The report also mentioned that the first group of standardized names for six places in Arunachal was released in 2017, followed by a second batch of 15 places in 2021.
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Standoff over Arunachal Pradesh Sovereignty
Earlier on 28 March, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said that Beijing may “repeat its baseless claims” as many times as it wants but that is not going to change New Delhi’s position that Arunachal Pradesh “was, is and will always remain” an integral and inalienable part of the country. His comments came days after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated China’s claim.
The Chinese military recently rebuked the United States for its stance that Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India. They emphasized that India and China possess mature mechanisms, communication channels, and the capability and willingness to address border issues through dialogue and consultations. This reaction came after Vedant Patel, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, stated on March 9 that “the United States acknowledges Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and strongly condemns any unilateral efforts to assert territorial claims through military or civilian incursions or encroachments across the Line of Actual Control.”
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