China's new "standard map" has angered its neighbours including India, Phillipines and Malaysia, who have released strongly worded statements about Beijing’s apparent claims on their territory.
China on Monday officially released the 2023 edition of its "standard map" that claimed Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as belonging to that country. The "map" also showed the entire South China Sea as part of China as it featured in the previous editions of the 'map'.
Philippines on Thursday issued a statement “rejecting” the map because of its inclusion of a dashed line around contested areas of the South China Sea that was subject to an international tribunal ruling in 2016 that found in favor of Manila.
The map is the “latest attempt to legitimize China’s purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones (and) has no basis under international law,” the Philippines Foreign Affairs department said in a statement.
Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs too dismissed China’s “unilateral claims". "The southeast Asian nation is consistent in its position of rejecting any foreign party’s claims to sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction on Malaysia’s maritime features," a statement said.
The country claimed that the South China Sea as outlined in the ‘2023 edition of the standard map of China’ extends into Malaysian maritime area. "The map has no binding effect on Malaysia," the statement said. Malaysia also noted that the new map, which clearly depicts the nine-dash line, showed China’s “unilateral maritime claims” and that they overlapped with Malaysia’s claims of its states of Sabah and Sarawak.
The government of India was the first to lodge a strong protest with China over its release of the so-called "standard map" that laid claim over Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin as region within its borders. Issuing a statement, External Affairs Ministry said, "We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question."
Meanwhile, China on Wednesday defended its move to release the new map, saying that it is a "routine practice" in accordance with its law and urged India to "stay objective and calm" and refrain from "over-interpreting" the issue. "It is a routine practice in China's exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law. We hope relevant sides can stay objective and calm, and refrain from over-interpreting the issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
