Overall public opinion is largely dominated by pro-India sentiment, with many expressing a mix of defiance, national pride, humor, and sarcasm in response to China's renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh. Indian commenters assert that Arunachal Pradesh is unequivocally part of India and view China's actions as provocative and baseless. There is a strong sentiment for India to retaliate symbolically, either by renaming Chinese territories or recognizing Tibet's independence. Sentiments range from humorous suggestions to serious calls for diplomatic and assertive actions.

India

China

Tibet

I could count the number of fucks I give about this on no hands.

[deleted]

Meh, not really much to have an opinion on. AFAIK, it's just a typical border dispute leftover from when India and China hated each other, and from their short border war. India has control over regions that China claims, and vice versa. I don't think it's anywhere near as complicated as Tibet or even the Spratly Islands. It's just something the two countries will have to smooth over as their relations deepen. 

xiefeilaga

It's governed by India. Met a bunch of dudes from there - they all have Indian passports.

There was a small story that was going around a couple of years ago. The governor of one of the districts wanted to come to China for some conference or something and he went to the Chinese Embassy with his Indian passport to apply for a visa. The Chinese embassy said he doesn't need a visa since he is Chinese.

BOOM!



The people there look Chinese. The regions there have chinese names. There is nothing dividing that region geographically from Tibet (there's a river south of it which cuts it off from the rest of India though)

But given that most of the population is Hindu, the Chinese don't even want to deal with them. So if the population were mostly non-religious or buddhists, then it should be incoorporated into Tibet (the land is Tibet's land.)

GodsDelight

Tibetans are genetically Chinese and China has improved the quality of life in that entire region tenfold.

I thought it was a part of India? China gets massively butthurt when anyone implies that it doesn't own all of asia. God, why do they even want Tibet? They can't fucking run their own country properly, let alone the rest of the region. It's like those people who hoard animals and end up living in a dilapidated shit stained house full of dead cats. 

lesbillionare

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Interesting that China is doing this now, so soon after India's conflict with Pakistan.

Glum_Sentence972

China's claim to Arunachal is so devoid of present reality, it's not even funny.

All the NE states, and especially Arunachal, detest China and hate when Indian racists call them Chinese (Fuck Indian racists, btw). Arunachal itself is one of the most integrated NE states, with high participation in Assam Rifles and other Indian armed forces on per capita basis.

frowningheart

India needs to rename Tibet and Taiwan as free country...screw 1 China policy

Hotp0pcorn

The Government of India on May 14, 2025, strongly rejected China’s renewed attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, dismissing them as “vain and preposterous” and reiterating that the state “was, is, and will always remain” an integral part of India, as reported by*The Hindu*. Responding to Beijing’s latest list of Chinese names for locations in Arunachal—which China claims as part of southern Tibet—MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal asserted that “creative naming” cannot change the “undeniable reality” of India’s sovereignty over the region. This marks a continuation of China’s efforts since 2017 to standardize names in the area, a move India has consistently condemned.

My thoughts/non-thoughts: China’s latest cartographic aggression appears timed to exploit India’s strategic distraction on its western front, where recent skirmishes tested both resolve and military hardware. In those clashes, China’s J-10C fighter jets reportedly outperformed India’s French-supplied Rafales, delivering a psychological edge even as Beijing already fields two fifth-generation jets and is racing ahead with sixth-generation development. This episode underscores China’s playbook that involves renaming places, baiting responses, and using them as pretexts for further incursions, with Arunachal Pradesh potentially next after Ladakh. Meanwhile, India faces a geopolitical bind: it cannot afford to alienate the United States, its most significant partner as it seeks to counterbalance China, but at the same time a deepening alliance may also risk further inflaming tensions with Beijing. With a fragile economy limiting military and diplomatic flexibility, Indian leadership finds itself navigating a high-stakes strategic dilemma with few viable escape routes.

Here is another report from South China Morning Post on the topic: 

SCMP: [China reasserts India border claims with fresh list of ‘standard’ place names](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3310209/china-reasserts-india-border-claims-fresh-list-standard-place-names) (14 May 2025)

telephonecompany

I say unleash Yogi Adityanath on them! China itself would be renamed in a few years. /s

chauhan1234567

DrFlexit1

I want to ask China, why there is a province in their country where the lingua franca is Hindi?

I hereby claim Inner Mongolia as part of India. My claim is as legit as China's claim on Arunachal.

FalconIMGN

Can we name some unpopulated space in Arunachal as 
Fuk Ji Peng? Try to annex that you shits! Haha.

GrooveStRep

Why now ?? Is it to maintain balance narratives between (filing WTO complain against US and this). Felt like they want to portray they are not against anyone..

Leading-Shake8020

China consists of 4 countries three of those occupied. East Turkmenistan, tibet, yunan and han china. Han china is 25% of land mass (smaller than India) and 90% of population the Han Occupiers live.

ReconoTTMM

For the uninitiated, it seems like China is warming up to the [Five Fingers of Tibet](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Fingers_of_Tibet) policy again.

energy_is_a_lie

I too may purchase may purchase a high rise apartment in Chinese occupied Beijingral.

Key-Cockroach7996

To be fair the Chinese rename even places they have no interest in conquering - but also that doesn’t mean that they didn’t do this in bad faith. They have zero claim to this territory. Their claim basically boils down to: “the Kingdom of Tibet used to control this land at their maximum extent, and we conquered them, so now all the land they ever held is ours too. International law? No, never heard of it! What is that?”

TorontoGiraffe

Hi all, this is Emma from Nikkei Asia. I'm on the audience engagement team. Here's an excerpt from one of our latest articles:

*India on Wednesday rejected China's "vain and preposterous attempts" to rename places in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state, calling the Indian region bordering the communist nation its "integral and inalienable."*

*The statement from India's Ministry of External Affairs follows Beijing's latest move as part of its repeated practice to announce its own names for places in the state, which China claims as its own territory and refers to it as Zangnan, or South Tibet. Beijing also often takes exception to visits to Arunachal Pradesh by Indian leaders and opposes infrastructure development projects in the region.*

*"We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," Randhir Jaiswal, the ministry's spokesperson, said in a brief statement in response to media queries without identifying the locations.*

*"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically," he said. "Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India."*

*The South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that the latest names for places in Arunachal Pradesh were published by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs. "The renaming of 27 places covered a diverse array of geographical features: 15 mountains, five residential areas, four mountain passes, two rivers and one lake," it added.*

*Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters on Wednesday, "Zangnan is part of China's territory" in response to a question about the Indian statement rejecting China's renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh.*

*"The Chinese government has standardized the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China's sovereign rights," he said, repeating the Chinese claim.*

NikkeiAsia

Hopes and prayers for peace and rationale between the politicians in New Dehli, India and Beijing, Taiwan.

strabosassistant

how was that considered act of aggression, I have no idea.

they are just adding or renaming the chinese translation of some locations in that region, and those names are quite obviously based on the sound not native to Chinese

markpreston54

India got more fighter jets to lose! Lets go

wutti

India has rejected China's attempt to rename locations in Arunachal Pradesh, reiterating the state's status as an integral part of India against China's territorial claims.

India-China Dispute over Arunachal Pradesh Naming

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