China says it 'firmly opposes' US recognition of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Indian territory

China on Thursday said it "firmly opposes" the US recognition of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Indian territory and affirmed that Washington has nothing to do with the India-China border dispute. It also accused the US of "instigating and using other countries’ disputes" for selfish geopolitical interests.

China’s strong reaction came hours after US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel’s remarks that the United States "recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory." Patel also said, "We (the US) strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control."

"China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing while replying to a question posed by the official Chinese media. "The China-India boundary has never been delimited. Zangnan (the official Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh) is China’s territory, a basic fact that is undeniable," he said. "The China-India boundary question is a matter between the two countries and has nothing to do with the US side," he said.

"It is known to all that the US has consistently spared no efforts to provoke and take advantage of other countries’ conflicts to serve its selfish geopolitical interests," Lin said. The comments by the US official came days after the Chinese military reiterated its claim over Arunachal Pradesh following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state. Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang on March 15 said that the southern part of Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet) is an inherent part of China’s territory, and Beijing never acknowledges and firmly opposes the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India.