(TibetanReview.net, Mar25’24) —For the fourth time since Mar 11, China has reiterated its claim that the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is “Zangnan”, or southern Tibet, and belongs to it in view of the apparent fact that Tibet is under its rule. India has recognized Tibet as an autonomous region of China since 1954, but without any demarcation or understanding of the occupied territory’s border contour with it.
“Zangnan” was always a part of China before it was “illegally occupied” by India, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, most recently, on Mar 25.
Claiming that it was an “indisputable fact”, he has said India established the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” in 1987 on the “illegally occupied territory”.
“We have issued strong statements against their actions and stressed their action is ineffective and this position of China has not been changed.”
Lim’s reaction came within two days of Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar dismissing Beijing’s earlier claims as “ludicrous”.
Speaking to an audience in Singapore on Mar 23, Jaishankar said Arunachal Pradesh was a “natural part of India”.
“This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today,” Jaishankar said in response to a question on the Arunachal issue after delivering a lecture at the prestigious Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“So, I think we’ve been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place,” he said.
Lim said “Zangnan” was always part of China before it was “illegally occupied” by India. China has all along had an effective administration over the region, he said.
Lim has not said or indicated when “Zangnan”, a name which does not have any historical record until China coined it recently, was “illegally occupied” by India.
This is the fourth time this month that China has reasserted its claim over Arunachal Pradesh.
It began with Beijing objecting to Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on Mar 9 to inaugurate the strategic Se-la Tunnel.
China lodged a diplomatic protest over the visit on Mar 11.
Then on Mar 15, Chinese Defence Ministry Spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said “the southern part of Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet) is an inherent part of China’s territory, and Beijing never acknowledges and firmly opposes the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India.”
India rejected the Chinese claim at that time and also on Mar 19 when its External Affair Ministry issued a statement, calling it “absurd”, adding Arunachal Pradesh “was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.”
Meanwhile, China’s official media has sought to dismiss India’s remarks on Arunachal Pradesh as “a vicious attempt to win votes” in the upcoming general elections.
“The recent acts and remarks by the Indian government are viewed as merely a vicious attempt to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party to win reelection, by establishing a hawkish image to court domestic nationalist voters,” said a globaltimes.cn report Mar 24, citing Chinese analysts.