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Chinese cemetery of 1962 war, Galwan clashes to serve as ‘education base’
The desolate cemetery was designated a Communist Party of China (CPC) “education base” in September, and large-scale renovation work is currently ongoing.
A high-altitude, wind-swept military cemetery in Xinjiang which houses the tombs of more than 100 Chinese soldiers who died fighting Indian troops during the 1962 war and in the Galwan Valley clash last year is being renovated to serve as a base for patriotic education.
The desolate cemetery was designated a Communist Party of China (CPC) “education base” in September, and large-scale renovation work is currently ongoing, a report published by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) portal said last weekend.
The designation of the Kangxiwar Martyrs’ Cemetery as a patriotic education base and its renovation was hastened after a Chinese travel blogger managed to enter the site in July and click smiling selfies, triggering an online furore in the country.
On November 15, the blogger was jailed for seven months for dishonouring dead soldiers.
The cemetery is likely the first such “patriotic education base” in connection with Sino-India military history.
“Patriotic education” or “demonstration” bases are a strategic part of the ruling CPC’s efforts to spread party propaganda in the country, especially this year, the CPC’s 100th anniversary.
As of 2019 September, there were more than 470 such bases in China.
The Kangxiwar Martyrs’ Cemetery, located 4,280 metres, or more than 14,000 feet, above sea level in the Karakorum mountains in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is China’s highest cemetery.
Located some 100km from a stretch of the disputed Sino-India border, it was built in 1965 to commemorate dozens of PLA soldiers killed in the 1962 India-China war.
Currently, it houses gravestones in memory of 108 Chinese troops, including four who China acknowledged were killed in Galwan Valley in June 2020 during the border clash with Indian soldiers. The remains of many have also been moved to the deceased’s home towns.
In September, the cemetery was designated as a patriotic education base by the Xinjiang government following the launch of the renovation project in August.
“In August this year, the renovation project of the cemetery with the theme of ‘Heroes of Border Defence, Monument of the Plateau’ was officially launched and is expected to be completed in November next year. It is a great consolation to the (deceased) heroes and their families,” the official PLA portal said in a report last weekend.
Chinese travel blogger Li Qixian triggered an online storm after posting photos of himself stepping on a stone engraved with the name of the cemetery.
Li then posed next to the tomb of Chen Xiangrong, one of the four PLA soldiers killed at Galwan Valley, with a smile on his face and pointing his fingers at the tomb in a pistol-like gesture.
Li is now in jail for “infringing upon the reputation and honour of the martyrs.”
He has been blacklisted by China’s tourism authors and is expected to make a televised public confession this week.
At least nine persons have so far been arrested, detained or have had proceedings initiated against them for insulting the “PLA heroes and martyrs” online.
China passed a law in 2018 that criminalised the act of insulting or slandering “heroes and martyrs”.
Those found guilty face up to three years’ in jail under an amendment to the law that took effect this March, just weeks after China acknowledged its Galwan Valley casualty figures for the first time, though the number is disputed by security officials in India.
During investigation into how Li could access the cemetery, military and civilian authorities found that the cemetery had fallen into disrepair. Investigators, according to the online report, found that the memorial facilities were broken and inscriptions on tombs had blurred.
“The overall facility was outdated and in disrepair, and there was no special place for displaying historical materials of heroes and martyrs,” the report said.
Interestingly, the remains of more PLA soldiers were found in the area, the report said, adding that authorities were conducting DNA tests to identify them.
Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 2020, when a violent clash in Pangong lake area led to both sides gradually deploying tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry along the border.
Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks have only resulted in partial disengagement of troops until now.
