China has reasserted its territorial claims near its contested border with India by releasing “standard” names for dozens of places in the region – most of them in Indian-controlled territory.
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Despite recent efforts to improve diplomatic ties with its Southeast Asian neighbour, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs published its latest names for places in Arunachal Pradesh, which China calls Zangnan, and says is part of the Tibetan autonomous region.
The renaming of 27 places covered a diverse array of geographical features: 15 mountains, five residential areas, four mountain passes, two rivers and one lake.
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After India and Pakistan trade blows over Kashmir, will their ceasefire hold?
After India and Pakistan trade blows over Kashmir, will their ceasefire hold?
Each location was assigned names in Chinese characters, Tibetan, and pinyin – the romanised spelling of Mandarin Chinese – and accompanied by detailed latitude and longitude coordinates, and a high-resolution map.
“In accordance with the relevant provisions of the State Council [China’s cabinet] on the management of geographical names, we in conjunction with the relevant departments have standardised some of the geographical names in Zangnan of China,” the ministry said.
The move comes despite efforts in the past year to improve relations between the two countries after a long period of tension.
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A deadly military clash in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in 2020 sent relations into a tailspin. Twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese personnel were killed in the encounter and there has been a military stand-off at the shared border ever since. The following year, another border skirmish in Sikkim state left troops on both sides wounded.
However, late last year China and India agreed to end their military stand-off at the Himalayan border.