China releases names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, calls it ‘southern part of Tibet’

China has released a third set of names for cities in Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese, Tibetan, and pinyin characters in a bid to reclaim the Indian state. China’s Civil Affairs Ministry released the standardised names of 11 places for Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet” in accordance with regulations on geographical names issued by China’s cabinet, on Sunday. 

The ministry released the official names of 11 places and gave precise coordinates including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers. It further listed the categories of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts, news agency PTI reported citing the Chinese government’s mouthpiece Global Times.  

This is not the first time that the Chinese government has released the list of names of places in Arunachal Pradesh. The Xi Jinping-led Chinese government released the first batch of standardised names for 6 places in 2017 and the second batch of 15 places was released in 2021. 

China announced the first set of names in 2017 following Dalai Lama’s Arunachal Pradesh visit. India has previously dismissed China’s move of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted the state will “always be” an integral part of India. 

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, noting this development, had said in December 2021: “Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact.” 

The Global Times had quoted Chinese experts who claimed the announcement was a legitimate move and that it was China’s sovereign right to standardise the geographical names.

(With agency inputs)

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