China on Tuesday added a fresh twist to its festering boundary dispute with India, saying it ‘never recognised’ the Union Territory of Ladakh and termed New Delhi’ latest ‘naming exercise’ for 28 locations in Ladakh as “illegal, null  and void”.The UT of Ladakh was carved out state of Jammu and Kashmir more than seven years ago, in August 2019. The Indian Parliament had amended Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to J&K. Two separate  UT’s were created — Ladakh and J&K.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted by state owned news agency Xinhua on Tuesday saying: “China has never recognised the so-called Union Territory of Ladakh illegally and unilaterally established by India and firmly opposes India’s publication of standard place names in Ladakh”.In what read like a possible reference to Aksai Chin and the naming of several features by India on October 2, Mao said such moves by the Indian side are illegal and null and void, and cannot alter the fact that the western section of the China-India boundary area has always belonged to China.She made the remarks in response to a question at Tuesday’s press briefing in Beijing after the government of India said it had identified 28 locations in Ladakh by standard names on an official map.Crucially, Mao’s words come two years after the militaries of either side had pulled back from a four-year long military stand-off along the disputed Line of Actual  Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh. There were a series of clashes along the un-demarcated LAC, notably at Galwan in June 2020.India on October 2 had given formal names to several natural features like lakes, peaks and locations in Ladakh, including those across the LAC in Aksai Chin, that is under illegal Chinese control since 1950’s. India claims the entire area and it forms the north-eastern edge of the Union Territory Ladakh.The LAC – some 832 kms in Eastern Ladakh — is not demarcated on ground with both sides having overlapping claims.The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on October 2 put out the list with 28 new names in a statement. A high-resolution map of the Union Territory of Ladakh is appended the it statement which says these ‘standard place and feature names’ now figure on the official map of Survey of India.“Identifying them formally on the Survey of India map of UT of Ladakh is aimed at facilitating their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large,” the Ministry said.