Beijing releases new names for locations in Zangnan sparking protest from India
Photo: REUTERS
A renewed diplomatic row has erupted between India and China after Beijing released a fresh list of Chinese names for locations in Zangnan.
India considers Zangnan to be part of its territory under the name Arunachal Pradesh.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday issued a strong rebuke, calling the move a "vain and preposterous attempt" to assert sovereignty over Indian land.
“We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,” said ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a written statement.
Our response to media queries on renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh by China (May 14, 2025)
🔗 https://t.co/5XtzF8ImUJ pic.twitter.com/1edyuqRpog“Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” he added.
The statement came after China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs released a standardised list of names for 27 locations in the region, including 15 mountains, five residential areas, four mountain passes, two rivers, and one lake.
According to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zangnan is part of China based on history, geography, and administrative jurisdiction.
The ministry said the naming of locations in the region is an internal matter.
“Zangnan is China’s territory,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing. “The Chinese government has standardised the names of some places in Zangnan, which is entirely within the scope of China’s sovereignty.”
India has consistently rejected China’s territorial claims on Zangnan, which borders China’s Tibet region. The two sides have clashed diplomatically and militarily over the region for decades.
The latest war of words also follows New Delhi’s move to block several Chinese state-run media accounts on X, formerly Twitter. Among those blocked were the official accounts of Xinhua News Agency and the Global Times, both known for echoing Beijing’s official positions.
The dispute over Zangnan is part of a broader, long-running border conflict between the two countries. In June 2020, a violent clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh left at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead — the most serious conflict between the two nations in over four decades.
Although relations began to thaw last year with renewed diplomatic engagements and military disengagement in some contested zones, the situation remains fragile.
India has repeatedly asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is a vital part of its territory and is governed under its constitutional framework. China, however, insists the area is part of historical Tibet, which it claims it annexed lawfully in the 1950s.