‘Zangnan always part of China before illegally occupied by India’

BEIJING: A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday said that Zangnan region also known as Arunachal Pradesh had always been part of China before it was illegally occupied by India.

“The border between India and China has never been settled. There are four different sections and Zangnan region is always part of China before it was illegally occupied by India,” Lin Jian said during his regular briefing in response to a statement of Indian External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar.

Responding to a question after delivering a lecture at a university in Singapore on Saturday, Jaishankar called China’s claim on the so-called Arunachal Pradesh “ludicrous” while asserting that the region is a natural part of India.

Lin Jian remarked that China has all along had an effective administration over the region and added, “It is an indisputable fact.”

He said that in 1987, the Indian side established so called Arunachal Pradesh on this illegally occupied territory.

“We have issued strong statements against their actions and stressed their action is ineffective an this position of China has not been changed,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that on March 13, while commenting on a statement by Indian External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar regarding China-India border dispute, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin hoped that India would work with the China and follow the common understanding reached between the leaders of two countries and the spirit of the agreements and maintain communication to find a solution to the border issue at an early date.

The China-India disputed border covers nearly 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) of frontier that the two countries call the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and that stretches from Ladakh in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast.

The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s without success. Since then, soldiers from the two sides have frequently faced off along the contested frontier.

Meanwhile, in response to another question regarding involvement of an Indian official in the case of attempt on a US (Sikh) national and questions by some reporters as to why the suspect carried out operation without the government authorization, he said, “We hope the relevant country will earnestly observe international law and the basic norms in international relations.”

The US Assistant Secretary Donald Lu recently said the US government takes this incredibly seriously and has taken it up with highest levels in India and encourages India to hold accountable to those responsible.