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Galwan Valley casualty numbers: China launches renewed diplomatic war on India
Following the PLA Daily releasing details - for the first time officially - of the four Chinese soldiers killed and one injured in the clash last June near the LAC, the Chinese defence and foreign ministries issued statements, pinning the blame for the deaths of soldiers on India
China on Friday launched a renewed diplomatic war on India, issuing official statements blaming New Delhi for the border tension in eastern Ladakh and the Galwan Valley clash last summer that left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.
Following the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily releasing details - for the first time officially - of the four Chinese soldiers killed and one injured in the clash in June near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Chinese defence and foreign ministries issued statements, pinning the blame for the deaths of soldiers on India.
Separately, Chinese state media outlets released videos and write-ups, urging the Chinese citizens to remember the “martyrs” and how four PLA soldiers sacrificed their lives while defending the country’s western borders.
The defence ministry was quoted as saying the families of all five soldiers will be well looked after.
All five PLA soldiers were awarded, four of them posthumously, for their role in fighting the Indian Army’s border troops in the Galwan Valley, Chinese official media announced, citing the Central Military Commission (CMC).
The title of “border-defending hero” was conferred on Battalion Commander Chen Hongjun posthumously, while Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran received first-class merit.
“They all died in a clash with trespassing foreign military personnel wielding steel tubes, cudgels and stones last June,” official news agency Xinhua reported, quoting PLA Daily.
Qi Fabao, who was seriously injured in the skirmish, received the title of “hero regiment commander for defending the border”.
Emphasising how young the soldiers were, Hu Xijin, editor of the tabloid Global Times, wrote that Wang Zhuoran, the youngest of the four soldiers who died, was only 19 years old, while Chen Xiangrong and Xiao Siyuan were 24 years old.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, while blaming India, said the PLA Daily story has put the truth out in the open.
“This will be a way to pay tribute to our heroes and martyrs and also will help the Indian side to draw lessons from it and better work with China to uphold peace and stability in the border region and properly resolve the border issue,” she said during a briefing.
Hua added, “We hope the border issue will be put in the proper place in our bilateral relations. We hope to work with the Indian side to properly resolve the issue and uphold the general picture in the interest of our bilateral ties.”
Mentioning two soldiers, Chen Hongjun and Xiao Siyuan, Hua said while the former would have become a father in four months (since death), the latter was getting ready for marriage.
“I think our peace today is hard to come by,” she said.
Both Hua and defence ministry spokesperson, Ren Guoqiang, in a statement published on Chinese social media, continued to blame India for the clash.
Ren said that China’s position on resolving the Sino-Indian border problem has been clear, consistent and sincere.
China, he said, is committed to resolving disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and has always been ready to maintain the overall stability of the relations between China and India and the two militaries.
Ren added that reporting of the casualty figures by PLA Daily is an effort to portray the truth.
India has consistently denied the allegation and has maintained that the PLA had trespassed across the LAC.
Chinese foreign ministry’s Hua added that India is an important neighbour and restoring a healthy, stable relation relationship is the aspiration and also in the interest of the people of the two countries.
