China rejects India’s naming of 27 Arunachal places, calls move ‘illegal, null and void’

China on August 10 rejected India’s move to identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on the official Indian map, calling the move “illegal, null and void”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing did not recognise what it termed “Arunachal Pradesh”, asserting China’s claim over the region.

“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.

China refers to Tibet as Xizang and Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan.

The remarks came after India last week formally identified 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on the official Indian map.

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has periodically announced Chinese names for locations in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017 as part of Beijing’s efforts to reinforce its territorial claims over the northeastern state. The latest list was released in April this year.

India has consistently rejected China’s attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, describing such moves as baseless and asserting that changing names cannot alter the ground reality or the state’s status as an integral part of India.

New Delhi has maintained that Arunachal Pradesh “was, is, and will” remain an integral part of India.