China releases names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has standardised the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh that it refers to as “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet” in its latest attempt to lay claim to Indian territory.

According to the State Council, China’s cabinet, China has assigned names to 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese characters, Tibetan, and pinyin, according to Global Times. On Sunday, the Ministry announced the names of 11 locations and provided precise coordinates for two residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers, and two other areas. According to the news report, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs also listed the names of the categories of places and their subordinate administrative districts.

According to the Global Times, this is the third batch of geographical names announced by the Arunachal Pradesh government. According to the news, the first batch of standardised names for six locations was issued in 2017, and the second batch of 15 locations was released in 2021.

Previously, in December of last year, the Indian government stated that it had seen reports of China attempting to rename some regions in Arunachal Pradesh “in its own language,” and that the border state “has been and will always be an integral part of India.”

In response to a media query on reports that China has renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh in its own language, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017.

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” Bagchi said.”