China releases third set of Chinese names to assert its claim over Arunachal Pradesh

China has announced a third set of names for Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese, Tibetan, and pinyin characters as part of its efforts to reaffirm its claim to the northeastern state of India.

On April 2, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs revealed the standardised names of 11 localities in Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers to as "Zangnan, the southern section of Tibet," in compliance with State Council, China's cabinet, laws on geographical names.

The ministry released the official names of the 11 places, as well as precise coordinates, including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers, and listed the category of places' names and their subordinate administrative districts, according to the state-run Global Times on April 3.

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China's civil affairs ministry has published the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh.

The first batch of standardised names for six Arunachal locations was released in 2017, and the second batch of 15 locations was released in 2021. India has previously rejected China's efforts to rename several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, claiming that the state has "always been" and would "always be" an important part of India and that awarding "invented" names does not change this reality.

"This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in December 2021. 

"Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact," he had said. 

The Global Times, which is part of the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece People's Daily group of publications, quoted Chinese experts as saying that the announcement of names is a legitimate move and China's sovereign right to standardise the geographical names. 

China revealed the first batch of names in 2017, only days after the Dalai Lama visited Arunachal Pradesh. China was outraged by the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit.

As China established military control of the Himalayan area in 1950, the Dalai Lama fled from Tibet through Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and found sanctuary in India in 1959.