onsdag 12. august 2026

China claims its ‘Zangnan’, not ‘Arunachal Pradesh’, slams India’s release of standard names for 27 locations

China has on Aug 10 reacted to India’s issuance on Aug 7 of standardized names of 27 locations in its state of Arunachal Pradesh in a move to counter similar exercises undertaken by itself since 2017, calling it “null and void”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China does not recognize the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh”, saying it was illegally set up by India, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Oct 10. “Zangnan region is China’s territory,” Guo has maintained, using the name coined relatively recently by China to refer to the strategic border state of India as it began adopting a more assertive posture on laying claim to it.

“Zangnan” simply means Southern Tibet, or “southern part of the Xizang autonomous region” – “Xizang” being China’s Pinyin term for “Tibet”.