Beijing renames places for third time in six years
Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, April 3
The Chinese authorities have announced new names of another 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh.
The announcement, as in the past, was made by the Chinese Civil Aviation Ministry. This is the third set of names announced by China.
32 sites renamed
- 2021: 15 places renamed
- 2017: Six places renamed after Dalai Lama’s visit to state
The Chinese Civil Aviation Ministry released the official names of 11 places with precise coordinates. These include two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers. China has renamed 32 locations in three phases since 2017.
China last renamed 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh in December 2021. These Sinicised names are now used on its maps used by its Civil Aviation Ministry. The 15 renamed places included eight townships, four mountains, two rivers and a mountain pass in Arunachal Pradesh.
In 2017, China had Sinicised the names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh. At that time, it was seen as retaliation against the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state. Officially, China says its Civil Aviation Ministry has “standardised” the names in Chinese characters. It refers to Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan or South Tibet.
China had earlier defended the renaming, stating that the exercise was “carried out in accordance with our regulations about the names of localities and it is a legitimate action by the Chinese government”.
The MEA had expressed concern over these regulations and had asked China to “avoid undertaking action under the pretext of this law which could unilaterally alter the situation in the India-China border areas”.
Beijing lays claim over 90,000 sq km in Arunachal, but New Delhi has consistently rejected the claim.