China releases new map showing territorial claims

• China’s government released the new map of China which continues to show the entire State of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders.
• It also claims on nine-dash line covering the entire South China Sea.
• China announced to “standardise” the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including a town close to the Arunachal Pradesh capital of Itanagar.

South China Sea

• An arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland.
• Bordered by Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
• It is connected by the Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by the Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea.
• Nine Dash Line
  • Defines the area claimed by China in the South China Sea - by far the largest portion of the Sea.
  • The contested area includes the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, the Pratas Island and the Vereker Banks, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Scarborough Shoal.

India- China Border Dispute

• The border between India and China is not clearly demarcated throughout and there is no mutually agreed Line of Actual Control (LAC) along certain stretches.
• India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km.
• It is divided into three sectors
  • Western Sector : Ladakh
  • Middle Sector : Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
  • Eastern Sector: Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim
• LAC came into existence after the 1962 Indo China war.

Prelims Takeaway

• South china sea
• Line of Actual Control (LAC)