(TibetanReview.net, Jan22’21) – Justifying its territorial claim over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on the basis of its annexation of Tibet, China has on Jan 21 sought to deny Indian media reports that it had built a new village in an occupied area which is part of the state. It claimed that the new, relocation village was well within its territory, situation on a defence highway, and also reasserted its claim over the whole of the state’s territory.
China’s normal construction on its own territory is entirely a matter of sovereignty, China’s official globaltimes.cn Jan 22 cited Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying as saying at a routine press conference.
China’s position on the east sector of the China-India boundary, or Zangnan (the southern part of China’s Tibet), is consistent and clear and China has never recognized the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh” illegally established on the Chinese territory, the report cited Hua as saying.
The Chinese party-state mouthpiece cited Zhang Yongpan, a research fellow of the state-run Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), as saying the Indian media reports were “a blatant attempt to stir up troubles on the China-India border.”
Zhang has claimed that the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” was founded illegally in the last century and occupies about 90,000 square kilometers of what he has called “Chinese territory”.
“The area has never been recognized by the Chinese government and Chinese ethnic minority groups such as the Moinba, the Lhoba and Tibetan people live in the area.”
The report further quoted Zhang as saying, “The Tsari region mentioned by Indian media is an important pass leading from the Himalayas to the southern mountain regions. It belongs to China, and India has been coveting this area. Indian media’s provocation shows the country aims to continue its ambition: constantly provoke disputes and advance toward the Line of Actual Control area.”
Zhang has made this claim despite against New Delhi the fact that the government of India did not respond to Indian media’s query on this incursion report.
Earlier, on Jan 18, India’s ndtv.com reported that China had built a village of 101 houses some 4.5 kilometers inside Arunachal Pradesh from the de facto border with occupied Tibet.
“The village has been built along the Chinese Xingquionpuzhang to Migyitun Defense highway. The highway goes 2-3 km beyond the village, all within Chinese occupied territory and Migyitun township, as shown by a township map of China,” globaltimes.cn Jan 19 quoted Zhang as saying.
China has previously refused to issue visas to Arunachal residents, saying they did not need it to travel to their own country. It later took to issuing visas stamped on loose sheets to people of Arunachal as well as Jammu and Kashmir to make a point of treating them as disputed territories.
