The United States has rejected the newly framed and contentious "standard map" released by China wherein it incorporated several neighbouring regions including some parts of India's Arunachal Pradesh inside its boundary.
Earlier this week, China enraged New Delhi by incorporating India's integral regions such as Arunachal Pradesh, and Aksai Chin in their latest edition of the map released on Monday. The so-called standard map released on the website of China’s Ministry of Natural Resources website and the social media platforms of the state news publication, Global Times, included the disputed areas including Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin region, Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea under their territory.
It is worth mentioning China claims Arunachal Pradesh is a part of the Tibet region.
What the US says?
While addressing a press conference on Tuesday, US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel slammed Beijing's geographical assertions and dubbed it "unlawful".
"We reject the unlawful maritime claims reflected on that map and call on the PRC to comport its maritime claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere with the International Law of the Sea," Patel said in response to a question on the US's stance over the recently released map.
China wants to make it a new normal: US
Further, he mentioned that the Chinese claims were not only illegal but also violates the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The law lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources.
Similarly, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder also raised similar concerns and said he thought it was a continuation of what "we’ve seen from China in terms of obfuscation of international sovereignty".
He asserted that China was trying to create a new normal by redrawing its boundaries and added it also expects others to follow suit.
