China on Monday rejected India’s move to formally identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on the official map, asserting that its latest action would neither alter the status of the region nor the “fact” that Beijing claims it as part of China.Reacting to India’s move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing does not recognise the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh”, which it refers to as “Zangnan”.“Zangnan region is China’s territory. China does not recognise the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ illegally set up by India,” Guo said at a press briefing.He described India’s decision to replace names “long been used by China” with its own “standard names” as “illegal, null and void”, asserting that it would not change Beijing’s claim over the region.India had on Friday formally identified the 27 locations on the Survey of India map of Arunachal Pradesh, saying the exercise was aimed at facilitating their “accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large”.The move came amid China’s repeated attempts to assign its own names to places in Arunachal Pradesh, a practice that New Delhi has consistently rejected as “vain and preposterous”, maintaining that such attempts cannot alter the “undeniable” reality that Arunachal Pradesh “was, is, and will” remain an integral part of India.Among the 27 locations identified by India are Long Ju, a site along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that was an early flashpoint between the two countries in 1959, and Maja village in Upper Subansiri district.The list also includes strategically important high-altitude passes such as Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La and Thag La. The latter witnessed one of the opening battles of the 1962 India-China war.Jairampur, an important logistics hub in Changlang district and a gateway to the eastern border region, has also been formally identified.Other locations include Sambho Sarovar, Bara Kundun, Chhota Kundun, Dhan Bari, Pritnagar, Teritnagar, Ramnagar, Jaswant Garh, Sagar, Padma, Jyotinagar and Baisakhi.The list also includes the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial, dedicated to 1962 war hero Trilok Singh Thapa, besides Chhota Ropuk, Bara Ropuk, Shivaji Nagar, Jattvibepura, Kamlang Nagar and Buddhamandir.China’s Civil Affairs Ministry began issuing lists of what it calls “standardised names” for places in Arunachal Pradesh in 2017, when it released names for six locations. A second list covering 15 places was issued in 2021, followed by another list of 11 places in 2023.New Delhi has repeatedly dismissed these naming exercises as attempts to create “baseless narratives” regarding Indian territory, stressing that such actions cannot change the ground reality and could also complicate efforts to stabilise and normalise India-China relations.