38+ PLA soldiers killed in Galwan clash: Report

The Klaxon cited a report titled “Galwan Decoded”, prepared by a group of unnamed social media researchers following a year-long investigation involving discussions with mainland Chinese bloggers, information obtained from mainland-based Chinese citizens, and media reports since deleted by Chinese authorities.

China’s losses during the Galwan Valley clash of 2020 were higher than the officially acknowledged death of four soldiers as at least 38 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops drowned while crossing a fast-flowing river, according to an Australian website.

Many Chinese soldiers were killed while attempting to cross the fast-flowing Galwan river in the early stages of the clash with Indian troops on June 15, 2020, the Klaxon reported. (HT File)

The Klaxon cited a report titled “Galwan Decoded”, prepared by a group of unnamed social media researchers following a year-long investigation involving discussions with mainland Chinese bloggers, information obtained from mainland-based Chinese citizens, and media reports since deleted by Chinese authorities.

The website said this report cited “several Weibo users” to state that “at least 38 PLA troops...were washed away and drowned that night”. It added that Chinese authorities had confirmed the drowning death of only one soldier identified as Junior Sergeant Wang Zhuoran.

Many Chinese soldiers were killed while attempting to cross the fast-flowing Galwan river in the early stages of the clash with Indian troops on June 15, 2020, the Klaxon reported.

The bodies of the soldiers were taken to Shiquanhe Martyr Cemetery, followed by local ceremonies at the towns of the dead soldiers, it added.

The clash in Galwan Valley resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. China’s acknowledgement of the death of only four of its soldiers in the clash, which saw troops from both sides fighting each other with rocks, batons and clubs wrapped in barbed wire, has for long been questioned by experts.

These were the first fatalities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since 1975 and took ties between India and China to an all-time low.

The Klaxon said the researchers declined to be named on security grounds but their findings appeared to “shed significant light” on the Galwan Valley clash.

“Claims of substantial Chinese casualties are not new, however evidence provided by a group of social media researchers, which The Klaxon has independently built on, appears to support claims that China’s casualties extended well beyond the four soldiers named by Beijing,” it added.

The Klaxon also said China had gone to extreme lengths to silence discussion about the clash. “A lot of facts about what really happened, what led to the skirmish, have been hidden by Beijing,” it said.

The Klaxon cited the research report and said Wang Zhuoran’s company had been ordered to perform a “support mission” at the time of the clash and that his “comrades in arms kept slipping and being rushed downstream” while crossing the river. Wang pushed four soldiers ashore but his legs were stuck in stones at the bottom of the river and he drowned.

Asked about The Klaxon’s report at a weekly media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “This is a question that the relevant site should respond to.”