China reacts, says Arunachal 'inherent part' of its territory

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 31

China on Friday defended the renaming of 15 more places in Arunachal Pradesh by its Ministry of Civil Affairs, claiming that the state is actually southern Tibet, an “inherent part” of its territory.

Zangnan (southern part of China’s Tibet) is located in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has been China’s territory since ancient times. Zhao Lijian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman

*China refers AP as Zangnan

The Chinese reaction came after India on Thursday had strongly rejected China renaming 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted it has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of India and that assigning “invented” names does not alter this fact.

“We have seen such. This is not the first time China has attempted such renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said on Thursday.

“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,” he had added.

Asked to react to this statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a media briefing here that, “for standardised management of the area, the competent authorities in China in accordance with relevant regulations have published the names for the relevant area. These are matters that are within China’s sovereignty”.

Zhao said, “Zangnan (the southern part of China’s Tibet) is located in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has been China’s territory since the ancient times.”

China refers Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan.

Earlier, Zhao said “the southern part of Tibet belongs to the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and it has been China’s inherent territories”.

This is the second time China has sought to Sinicise the names of places in Arunachal Pradesh released by China. It had renamed six to seven places in 2017. While that renaming was attributed to Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, this time it is being linked with the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

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