New Delhi, 29 August : Ahead of the G-20 summit in India, China has released a new official map showing its territorial claims. This new map shows India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders. The Chinese government released this map on August 28.
This new map by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources shows territorial claims along its western borders as well as a so-called nine-dash line covering the entire South China Sea, similar to previous versions. Like previous maps, a ”tenth dash” is placed east of Taiwan, which underlines Beijing’s claim to the island.
The latest map comes after Beijing announced in April that it would standardise the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including a town near Arunachal Pradesh’s capital, Itanagar. This was the third such list of renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh. This new map of China was released when Chinese President Xi Jinping was expected to attend the G-20 summit in New Delhi on September 9–10.
The report said that after issuing a standard map for public use, the Ministry of Natural Resources will also issue a digital map and navigation and positioning for use in various sectors, including location-based services, precision agriculture, and platform economies. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Survey and Mapping Law of the People’s Republic of China, which was passed to strengthen survey and mapping administration and promote its development.
Beijing has tightened the management of border areas by passing a new border law in 2022, which lists different responsibilities for civilian and military officials in China. The issuance of new names is related to Article 7 of the law, which calls for the promotion of cross-border education at all levels of government. Article 22 calls on the Chinese military to practice on the border and resolutely prevent and counter aggression, encroachment, and provocation. The new map issued is being looked at in conjunction with the same boundary law., and Various Infrastructure Development Works have been done.
