On Monday 28 August, China released a map of its famed U-shaped boundary, which encompasses almost 90% of the South China Sea and is the source of numerous confrontations in one of the world’s most contentious waterways, through which more than $3 trillion in trade passes each year.
Three days after India, four additional countries condemned China for publishing a map depicting their territories as Chinese territory. China’s U-shaped border stretches 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) south of Hainan Island and crosses the EEZs of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.
In a “new map,” Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin were marked as Chinese territory. The distorted map also featured China’s claims to Taiwan and a large chunk of the South China Sea.
According to AFP, New Delhi claims ownership of two areas on the map published by Beijing’s state-owned Global Times newspaper.
Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India was one example, which China claimed as part of Tibet and where the Asian superpowers fought a full-fledged border war in 1962.
The second was the Aksai Chin region of Kashmir, a high-altitude strategic corridor connecting Tibet and western China.
- What is China’s claim in the new map?
The regions like Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region shows china’s territorial assertions. These assertions have long been a cause of concern between China and India. The map also includes the “Nine-Dash Line,” a disputed demarcation that spans the whole South China Sea and emphasizes Beijing’s claims to this crucial maritime region. The image also includes the tenth dash line, which emphasizes Beijing’s claims to the island of Taiwan.
- Hit back of these countries towards China’s New Mapping
India has raised a “strong protest” with China over a new map claiming its territory.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted against China’s presentation of their imagined 2023 territory map. In response to media inquiries about China’s strange assertions, the MEA released an official statement denying China’s so-called “standard map” for 2023.
India Reacts to China’s ‘Renaming’ of Places in Arunachal Pradesh
The Indian government rejected China’s bid in April to rename 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which it also refers to as ‘Zangnan’, the third time Beijing has attempted such a heinous move after 2018 and 2021 and asserted that the northeastern state has been and will always be an integral part of India.
Malaysia and Taiwan have also criticising China’s aggressive expansionist behavior. Malaysia is apparently planning to send a protest letter to China. “This has been our practice (when dealing with issues like this), and based on the statement issued by Wisma Putra (foreign ministry) yesterday, the next step includes sending a protest note,” foreign minister Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir was reported as saying by the Bernama news agency.
In spite of the fact that Indonesia has discuss with China about fishing rights in the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone. On August 31, Indonesia Foreign Ministry announced that any portrayals of territorial boundaries must correspond to the UN Declaration on the Law of the Sea.
Source: Business Today