China on Friday expressed its “diametrical opposition” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China had lodged “strong representation with India,” that it was “not conducive to properly resolving and controlling disputes between the two sides, nor in conformity with the general situation of growth of bilateral relations,” Xinhua quoted her as saying.
In a statement posted in English on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website, Ms. Hua urged “the Indian side to take China's solemn concerns seriously, meet the Chinese side halfway and commit itself to fairly and properly resolving the bilateral boundary question through negotiation.”
The Xinhua report said that Mr. Modi visited a “disputed zone in the eastern part of China-India borders” on Friday to participate in activities marking the founding of the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh,” a State that Indian authorities “illegally and unilaterally declared in 1987.”
“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’,” Ms. Hua said. She said China’s stance on the “disputed area on the eastern part of the China-India border is consistent and clear.” According to Xinhua, the “so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ was established largely on the three areas of China’s Tibet — Monyul, Loyul and Lower Tsayul — currently under Indian illegal occupation. These three areas, located between the illegal “Mcmahon Line” and the traditional customary boundary between China and India, have always been Chinese territory.
“In 1914, the colonialists secretly contrived the illegal “Mcmahon Line” in an attempt to incorporate into India the above-mentioned three areas of Chinese territory. None of the successive Chinese governments have ever recognised this line. In February 1987, Indian authorities declared the founding of the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh.’”
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