After condemnation by India and the US of Chinese attempts to violate India’s territorial integrity by renaming Indian places, Beijing provokes again laying claim on Arunachal Pradesh, calling it Zangnan.
The United States has strongly opposed China’s attempts to advance claim over Indian territory. A day after China renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, the United States supported India and the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, America strongly opposes any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities.
In a fresh provocation, Beijing said, “Zangnan (Arunachal Pradesh) is part of China’s territory… is within China’s sovereign rights.” This came after India “outrightly rejected” China’s attempt to rename 11 places in the Indian state.
“In accordance with relevant stipulations of the administration of geographical names of the State Council, competent authorities of the Chinese government have standardised the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China’s sovereign rights,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a press conference late on Tuesday.
India is yet to respond to this new attempt by Beijing to lay its territorial claims by renaming Indian state..
Earlier, the White House in a statement said that the United States has recognised Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India and strongly opposes any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities.
China on Tuesday announced Chinese names for 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh, which the neighbouring country claims as Zangnan- the southern part of Tibet. Later it also issued a statement claiming Zangnan is part of China’s territory and within China’s sovereign rights. This came after India rejected China’s claims of renaming 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, earlier reacting to China’s claims, India had outrightly rejected Beijing’s step of renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) strongly asserted that the state is an integral part of India and assigning ‘invented’ names does not alter this reality.
“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Read Also: https://indiadiplomacy.in/india-rejects-outrightly-chinas-renaming-tactic-in-arunachal/
