Xi Jinping's bid for all-powerful China echoes mythological bully Jie as Beijing endlessly renames areas beyond borders

When visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping toasted a glass of wine with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a reception at the Kremlin in Moscow on 21 March 2023, it sent out the message of a reaffirmed alliance challenging the supremacy of the US-led world order. For the world, China has demonstrated unwavering support for Russia amid the Ukrainian conflict, even though most NATO countries and other traditional US allies have withdrawn their support for Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. However, in that display of deepening bilateral ties and strong bonding between Russia and China what Moscow and Beijing hid are the territorial aspirations of the Xi Jinping regime that had laid eyes on Far East as far as eastern Siberia. Renaming Regions: China’s strategy for asserting its territorial claims There is nothing on this planet that can hide the territorial ambitions of China. Be it land, river or mountains, China wants everything for itself no matter which country it belongs to in its neighbourhood. China’s behaviour is more or less like a school bully who is habituated in snatching tiffin boxes from others. It is no rocket science to figure out that by unilaterally renaming places in disputed areas, China is attempting to assert its territorial claims and undermine the claims of other countries. If India is the latest victim of this Chinese arrogance, Russia too had to suffer a similar behaviour from China ahead of the much-touted successful state visit to Moscow by President Xi Jinping. Despite criticism by other countries including those that have territorial claims in the disputed areas, the renaming spree only highlights China’s assertive stance on territorial issues and as an attempt to increase its influence in the region. A VOA News piece said that China resorts to such tactics “to remind their own citizens of their claims while keeping up pressure on their opponents in disputes around Asia, especially in preparation for any International Court of Justice or world arbitration court hearings”. “I think the Chinese view is that part of narrative warfare, part of shaping a narrative about what a conflict is about, is wrong-footing or putting your adversary or rival claimant or disputant in a position where they are disadvantaged, and China holds an advantage,” the VOA News piece said quoting Scott Harold, a Washington-based senior political scientist with RAND Corporation research group. Thaw in Moscow, cold in Siberia In February this year, the Ministry of Natural Resources of China issued new regulations regarding map toponymy, which included the naming of eight Russian cities and territories that Beijing claims were occupied by the Russian Empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This move represented an assertion of China’s territorial claims which could perhaps raise tensions between China and Russia in the future. The ‘Specification for the Representation of Public Map Content’ approved by the Chinese ministry said: “The national border of the People’s Republic of China shall be drawn in accordance with the standard sample map of the Chinese border drawing method approved and published by the State Council. The historical boundaries of China shall be drawn based on relevant historical materials and actual historical boundaries.”

Following the adoption of new regulations on map toponymy by the Ministry of Natural Resources of China in February of this year, several Russian regions were given new Chinese names. Among them were Vladivostok, now referred to as Heishenwai in Chinese; Ussuriysk, which has been renamed Shuanchenzi in Chinese; Khabarovsk, now known as Boly in Chinese; and Blagoveshchensk, which has been given the Chinese name Hailanpao. Additionally, Sakhalin Island is now referred to as Quedao in Chinese, while Nerchinsk has been renamed Nibuchu, and Nikolaevsk-on-Amur is now referred to as Miaoze. Finally, Stanovaya Ridge has been given the Chinese name Waisin anlin. Despite a subdued response from Russia in light of current circumstances, the territory in question has long been a major point of contention between China and Russia. Historical records indicate that the disputed region was initially incorporated into the Qing Empire in 1689, under the terms of the Treaty of Nerchinsk. However, the Qing dynasty was later compelled to sign the Aigun Treaty of 1858 and the Peking Treaty of 1860, which effectively overturned the previous agreement and transferred control of the area to Russia. In spite of the prior treaties, Sino-Russian relations experienced a violent border altercation in the 1960s, leading to losses on both sides. Nonetheless, on 9 and 10 December 1999, the Heads of State of China and the Russian Federation, Jiang Zemin and Boris Yeltsin, respectively, signed protocols that unambiguously affirmed the sovereignty of Russia over disputed territories including the Outer Xing’an Mountains region, Sakhalin Island, Udong region, Tangnu Ulianghai region, Vladivostok region among others, totalling an area of over 1.25 million square kilometres. In 2005, the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China announced that they had successfully resolved all outstanding border disputes, marking the culmination of forty years of negotiations. A document released by the Chinese embassy in the United States confirmed this achievement. Both Russia and China share a 4,300-kilometre-long border. Ironically, the latest move by China nullifies the significance of all the past territorial treaties it signed with Russia and Moscow, despite knowing the reality. Moscow now seeks to downplay the Chinese move as support from Beijing is critical at this juncture. There is also a fear that President Xi might end up annexing the newly disputed territory if Russia fails to defend it. Hattrick for China in renaming Arunachal Pradesh China’s persistent interference in the affairs of Arunachal Pradesh has continued, with the country making a third attempt to rename 11 locations in the region. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs released a list of “official” names for two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers in the southern part of Tibet, which China refers to as “Zangnan”. The list also included precise coordinates and the respective administrative districts for each location. This move by China constitutes a blatant disregard for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India and is a clear violation of international norms and conventions. India’s Ministry of External Affairs rejected the attempt outright confirming that nothing changes on the ground. Arunachal Pradesh is an “integral and inalienable part of India” and even the US recognises the same. China made its first such attempt by seeking to change the names of six locations in Arunachal Pradesh in 2017 followed by another attempt for 15 locations in 2021. In December last year, soldiers of the two countries came to blows in the Tawang sector although the matter was resolved after the intervention of the local commanders from both sides. Significantly, the renaming stunt happened just a day before the King of Bhutan Jigme Wangchuk landed in Bhutan for a three-day state visit. The visit by the Bhutan king is important as it happened just a few weeks after the country’s prime minister surprised India by calling Doklam a territorial dispute and giving China an equal say on the matter despite India’s assistance to Thimphu to defend its territory. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has repeatedly said that India-China ties are not normal while Army Chief General Manoj Pande did not deny the possibility of a wider conflict with China just a week ago. India definitely will have to keep the legal aspect in mind and prepare a counterstrategy accordingly. Instead of assuming that China might exploit the situation at the slightest chance, India should be convinced that China will certainly work against New Delhi’s interests no matter what level of depth the bilateral ties are, for now, they are rather shallow. Despite China’s enormous military and diplomatic advantage, India must find loopholes and lacunae in the Chinese strategy, which are bound to be there owing to China’s arrogance and overconfidence, and keep a few aces up its sleeve. Unlike Russia, India has boldly rejected China’s renaming exercises, but New Delhi must keep an eye on how a big country like Russia has been nearly forced to subjugate itself despite the obvious humiliation. China can stoop to any level to conquer, and India cannot forget this ugly truth. Old habits die hard As a matter of strategy or scheming, China has often renamed several disputed territories over the years involving other countries apart from Russia and India. China has designated the South China Sea as the ‘Nanhai’ or ‘South Sea’ and maintains a comprehensive claim of sovereignty over the majority of the area. The Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, have similarly been asserted as Chinese territory, with the Chinese appellation of ‘Diaoyu Dao’ being applied. China has also claimed exclusive jurisdiction over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, which it refers to as the ‘Huangyan Island’. Then there are the Spratly Islands, which China refers to as the ‘Nansha Islands’, and the Paracel Islands, which China designates as the ‘Xisha Islands’. China also claims sovereignty over the Macclesfield Bank in the South China Sea, which it calls the ‘Zhongsha Islands’. Likewise, China refers to Hainan Island in the South China Sea as the ‘Hainan Province’." Qing and Xi Jinping It is unclear whether President Jinping aspires to leave a legacy that rivals or exceeds the Qing Dynasty’s, which governed China from 1644 to 1912 and expanded its territory to its largest extent. Regardless of his ambitions, he might have been inspired by Chinese mythology, where the figure of ‘Jie’ or ‘Jie Zitui’ is notorious for his arrogance and abuse of power. Similarly, the mythical Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), who is said to have lived around 2600 BC, is often associated with territorial expansion and military conquest and probably motivates the Chinese president for his territorial ambitions. In his quest to expand China’s boundaries as far as possible, perhaps President Jinping should remember about ‘Xiaolin Village’, a fake city in the animated Chinese TV series Xiaolin Showdown that does not exist in reality. For the world, Arunachal is real and Zangnan is Xiaolin Village, an imagination or illusion! Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.