The Philippines, alongside Malaysia and India, is unhappy with China‘s new national map because it seems like China is claiming their land.
China released a new version of its national map on Monday, which it has been doing since at least 2006, to fix what Beijing has previously called “problematic maps” that it believes incorrectly depict its boundaries.
The Philippines stated on Thursday that they did not accept the map because it showed a dashed line around disputed parts of the South China Sea. This line was part of a ruling by an international tribunal in 2016, which supported the Philippines’ claims.
The Philippines Foreign Affairs department said that the map is China’s recent attempt to make it seem like they have power and control over Philippine areas and waters. However, this is not supported by international law.
India was the first to express unhappiness on Tuesday by strongly objecting to China including the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai-Chin territory as part of its own territory.
India’s foreign secretary, Arindam Bagchi, said that we have expressed our strong disagreement with China through diplomatic channels about their map claiming India’s land in 2023. “We disagree with these statements since they lack any proof or foundation. ”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malaysia disagreed with China’s claims and said that Malaysia does not accept any foreign party’s ownership or control of Malaysia’s maritime features.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded to the complaints during a press briefing on Wednesday. He said that the changes made were a normal practice of exercising control within the country’s laws.
“He added that he hopes everyone involved can stay fair-minded and calm, and avoid making too many assumptions about the issue. ”
Since becoming the leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has tried to make China very powerful worldwide. He has been aggressive in dealing with other countries and has made bold moves in important areas in Asia.
The argument over the map happened a few days after the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Xi met in South Africa. During their meeting, they agreed to work harder to reduce tensions at their disputed border. This was seen as a positive step towards improving their strained relationship.
This happened after India and China talked for the 19th time to sort out their border problem. It happened before there might be a meeting between Modi and Xi at the G20 summit in New Delhi next week – if Xi goes to the summit.
Although it seems like progress is being made in their border disputes, experts say that may not always be true.
Akhil Ramesh, a senior fellow at the Pacific Forum, a foreign policy research institute in Honolulu, said that India and China try to resolve their differences, but it seems like they make little progress and often face setbacks.
In this situation, even though both sides may say they want to reduce tensions, I don’t think it will actually happen. Both countries want to become leaders in the southern part of the world, and they are both working hard to achieve this.
Borders have caused problems between New Delhi and Beijing for a long time, and conflicts in the area have led to war in the past, which China won in 1962. Over the years, a border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has divided two very populated countries.
The two countries had more problems in 2020 after a big fight in the Galwan Valley. This place is near Aksai Chin, an area controlled by China but both countries say it belongs to them. Tensions have been building up since then and recently became more serious in December when there was a clash between soldiers from both sides in the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh, causing minor injuries.
While there are problems between Beijing and New Delhi, politicians from India’s main opposition party, Congress, have criticized Modi for not taking the border issue seriously.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that China frequently changes the names and boundaries of territories that belong to other countries. The Modi government needs to make sure that the Chinese occupation of 2,000 square kilometers of Indian land along the LAC is stopped and ended.
Lawmaker Rahul Gandhi told the reporters on Wednesday that he has been saying for a long time that the prime minister was not telling the truth when he claimed that no land was lost in Ladakh.
Everyone in Ladakh knows that China has taken our land. This map problem is very important. the prime minister should talk about it,” he added.
Modi has mostly stayed away from talking about the border problem, even going on live TV and claiming that no one has entered or is entering the country.
But India has taken some actions to resist potential dangers from China. They have prohibited the use of popular Chinese apps like TikTok on social media because they believe these apps may harm their independence and unity. Additionally, they are also preventing Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE from providing their 5G network.
With a growing sense of patriotism in both countries, New Delhi has become more worried about China’s increasing assertiveness. This worry has strengthened India’s relationship with the United States, particularly through the Quad – a group consisting of Japan, the US, India, and Australia, which is seen as a way to balance China’s power.
China refused to attend a G20 tourism meeting organized by India in the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir. They did this because they disagree with having any G20 meetings in disputed areas. Both India and Pakistan say that they own the disputed region of Kashmir completely.