China renames 15 places in India in Arunachal Pradesh, India, announcing it has “standardized” official names for those locations in Zangnan.
China renames 15 places in India, Arunachal Pradesh. While the Government of India has rejected the renaming of places affirming that the AP has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of India, the Chinese make no bones to declare Arunachal Pradesh as their own stating Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet.
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced that it had standardized in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of 15 places in Zangnan, the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh. The standardization is in accordance with regulations on geographical names issued by the State Council, China’s cabinet.
Among the official names of the 15 places, which were given precise coordinates, eight are residential areas, four are mountains, two are rivers, and one is a mountain pass.
The eight residential places in the second batch are Sêngkêzong and Daglungzong in Cona County of Shannan Prefecture, Mani’gang, Duding and Migpain in Medog County of Nyingchi, Goling, Damba in Zayu County of Nyingchi, and Mêjag in Lhunze County of Shannan Prefecture.
The four mountains are Wamo Ri, Dêu Ri, Lhünzhub Ri and Kunmingxingzê Feng.
The two rivers are Xênyogmo He and Dulain He, and the mountain pass is named Sê La, in Cona County.
Lian Xiangmin, an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday that it is part of a national effort to standardize the management of place names. The places have existed for hundreds of years.
They claim it is a legitimate move and China’s sovereign right to give them standardized names. More standardized place names in the region will be announced in the future, Liam claimed. Zhang Yongpan, a research fellow of the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, described that most areas in Zangnan were named by the central and local governments throughout history, as well as ethnic groups such as the Tibetan, Lhoba, and Monba who have long lived in the region.
“The right to name places in the region should belong to China,” said Zhang, who has published a number of historical and geographical research articles on the China-India border.
Zhang Yongpan honed out that standardizing names of places in Zangnan, and the adoption of China’s first national law on the protection and exploitation of land border areas, are significant actions made by China to safeguard national sovereignty, better maintain national security, and manage border-related matters at the legal level amid regional tensions, including frictions with India.
The Indian Government responded, “We have seen such. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
East of LAC, China builds a new bridge on Pangong Tso
China also builds a new bridge east of LAC, (Line of Actual Control). After the military battle in May 2020, India and China have not only worked to improve existing infrastructure, but have also built several new roads, bridges, landing strips along the entire frontier.
Both countries have over 50,000 troops each in the areas along the Ladakh frontier.
Pangong Tso, an endorheic lake, is 135 km long, of which more than two-thirds is under Chinese control and resuming with infrastructure build-up on its side of the area near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, China is constructing a new bridge on Pangong Tso which will provide an additional axis to deploy troops faster between the north and south banks of the lake, and closer to the LAC.
Sources said the bridge is being constructed more than 20 km east of Finger 8 on the lake’s north bank – India says Finger 8 denotes the LAC. The bridge site is just east of Khurnak Fort in Rutog county where the PLA has frontier bases. There is a frontier defense company at Khurnak Fort, and a water squadron further east at Banmozhang.
Historically a part of India, Khurnak Fort has been under Chinese control since 1958. From Khurnak Fort, the LAC is considerably west, with India claiming it at Finger 8 and China claiming it at Finger 4.
The north and south banks of the lake were among the several friction points that surfaced after the start of the standoff. Before India and China pulled back troops from the north and south banks in February 2021, the area had seen tremendous lobbying and the two sides even deployed tanks, barely a few hundred metres apart in some locations.
Towards the end of August 2020, India outmanoeuvred China to capture the previously unoccupied heights of the Kailash Range on the south bank of the lake.
Indian troops positioned themselves on the peaks there, including Magar Hill, Gurung Hill, Rezang La, Rechin La, and this allowed them to dominate the strategic Spanggur Gap — it can be used for launching an offensive, as China had done in 1962 — and also gave them a view of the PLA garrison at Moldo.
Indian troops had also positioned themselves above the Chinese troops in the Fingers area on the north bank. During this scramble for the heights, shots had been fired by both sides, a first in over four decades.
Soldiers from India and China stayed on these heights through the severe winter months. The significance of these positions was one of the main factors that compelled China to negotiate a pullback.
Both countries agreed to a pullback from the north bank of the lake, and positions on the Kailash Range in the Chushul sub-sector south of Pangong Tso.
Sources said that the new bridge built by China will allow it to mobilise its troops faster in this area, hoping to prevent a repeat of what happened in August 2020.
China has been developing infrastructure in the entire region since the start of the standoff — it is still to be settled. The widening of roads, construction of new roads and bridges, new bases, airstrips, advance landing bases, etc are not restricted to the eastern Ladakh region, but are happening across the three sectors of the India-China boundary.
India too has been enhancing its infrastructure in the border areas. Last year, the Border Roads Organisation completed more than 100 projects in border areas, the majority of which were close to the border with China. India is also improving its surveillance along the entire 3488-km boundary, and has been building new airstrips and landing areas.
The Pentagon too reported taking note of China’s incursion into India. In spite of this, India’s trade with China is set to cross the $100 billion mark for the first time in 2021, with shipments hitting $90 billion after three quarters, an almost 30% jump from pre-pandemic levels, India’s imports from China surged 51.7% to $68.4 billion, while India’s exports rose 42.5% to $21.9 billion, all this post-Galwan Valley massacre of Indian soldiers in June 2020.