Saraswati Gao, NET Correspondent, Arunachal PradeshChina has strongly objected to India’s decision to notify 27 locations and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh with their standard names on the official Indian map, terming the exercise “illegal, null and void”. Beijing refers to Tibet as Xizang and to Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan. The Chinese reaction follows India’s move last week to formally standardise 27 place names in Arunachal Pradesh for official mapping purposes. Since 2017, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has been releasing Chinese names for places in Arunachal Pradesh as part of efforts to underline its territorial claim. Officials have consistently reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh “was, is, and will always remain” an integral part of India.