China rejects India’s Ladakh place names as ‘illegal, null and void’
Beijing says renaming cannot alter disputed boundary claims
Beijing: China has rejected India’s publication of standard place names for locations in Ladakh, calling the move illegal and void.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a press briefing on Tuesday. She said the exercise could not change its position on the western sector of the China-India boundary.
Mao Ning was responding to India’s announcement that it had identified 28 locations in Ladakh using standard names on an official map.
Mao said China had never recognised the so-called “Union Territory of Ladakh”, which India established unilaterally. She reiterated Beijing’s firm opposition to India’s publication of the place names.
“Such moves by the Indian side are illegal and null and void,” Mao said. She added that they could not alter what China described as the status of the western section of the China-India boundary area.
Historically part of internationally recognized disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh became a separate union territory on October 31, 2019, following India’s reorganisation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. China disputes India’s territorial claims in parts of the region, particularly areas along the western sector of the China-India boundary.
