Call it ‘southern Tibet’…
In an intensified effort to emphasize its claim over India’s Arunachal Pradesh, China has released a third set of names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it referred to as "Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet".
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of China released the standardized names in Chinese, Tibetan, and Pinyin characters following regulations on names issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.
The list includes two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers, along with their subordinate administration districts.
On Monday, the state-run Global Times reported that this is the third batch of standardized geographical names for AP, issued by China’s civil affairs ministry, with the first batch of six places announced in 2017 and the second batch of 15 places in 2021.
Previously, India dismissed China's move to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state has always been and will always be an integral part of the nation and that assigning invented names does not change this fact.
The Global Times quoted Chinese experts as saying that the announcement of names is a legitimate move and China's sovereign right to standardize geographical names.
India's external affairs ministry spokesperson emphasized that assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter the fact that the state is an integral part of India.
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