China has managed to anger a number of its neighbors with its new official map. Even Russia has not been spared China’s territorial claims.
China’s Ministry of Natural Resources has released its new official maps this week. In them, China has marked parts of the disputed border areas as part of its own territory.
Disputed territories from India and Russia have ended up as part of China. The map has also angered the Philippines and Malaysia. Disputes between the Philippines, Malaysia and China concern maritime areas in the South China Sea. The International Court of Justice (ITLOS) had settled the dispute between the Philippines and China in favor of the Philippines in 2016.
They reported on it including the BBC and CNN.
India has raised a protest. On the map of China, the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is drawn as part of China. In addition, China has marked the Aksai Chin area in the eastern part of Kashmir as its own. India and China have been arguing over the control of Aksai Chin for decades.
According to India, China’s seizure only complicates the resolution of the border dispute.
– We oppose these claims as unfounded, said the spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arindam Bagchi According to the BBC.
India’s objections came just days after the leaders of India and China met at the Brics summit in South Africa. There, the leaders had agreed to “intensify efforts to bring about a rapid withdrawal and calm” on the disputed border.
Relations between India and China have deteriorated since 2020, when their forces engaged in a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. It was the first fatal clash between the two sides since 1975.
Russia has not commented
The territorial dispute between China and Russia concerns the control of the Big Ussurin Island (Bolshoi Ussurijsk) in the Amur River. Now also the parts of the island controlled by Russia have been marked as part of China. It tells about it, among other things Russian RBK website.
The area is marked separately on the map as the easternmost point of China, stating that “the map is made in accordance with the national standards for drawing the borders of China and other countries of the world”.
Russia has become increasingly dependent on Chinese support since Russia invaded Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin announced in March this year that China’s leader Xi Jinping After his visit to Moscow, that Russia-China relations have entered a new era.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not taken a position on the Chinese map.