Much has been written about the Chinese Communist Party’s blind expansionist policy endangers its neighbours as it just wants to grab everything in sight. As India and China face-off yet again at the LAC in Ladakh, there is a palpable curiosity in both the nations as what exactly is happening at the border. The Chinese Communist Party has mysteriously resorted to censoring the ‘China India border confrontation’ hashtag on Weibo which had garnered 30 million hits.
https://twitter.com/ananthkrishnan/status/1267449805535539206?s=20
As both the nations are involved in an intense face-off at the border, Lt. General rank officers from both sides met each other at the Chinese side of the disputed Chushul-Moldo border point. The stakes are high as it is for the first time that the two sides have gone beyond established protocols to deploy such high-level officers. And China is already on the back foot, as it has replaced the Army commander for its Western Theatre Command ground forces responsible for handling the Sino-India border. Lieutenant General Xu Qiling has been appointed as the new Commander.
The Sino-India tensions are today heightened because of Chinese actions, and it was the PLA that initiated scuffles and face-offs in Sikkim and Ladakh. It was again the PLA that flew helicopters and fighter jets near the LAC, apart from amassing troops and weaponry– artillery guns and combat infantry vehicles along the LAC. India however kept matching Chinese aggression.
India is in no mood to stall the construction of 255-km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie road which will allow the Indian Army to easily access its last military post South of the Karakoram Pass.
Expectedly, none of the countries are revealing their cards and yesterday’s talks have likely softened the face-off but none of the countries are yet to come out with a statement. This has given a rise to huge curiosity as the CCP being true to its characteristics never tells the truth to its population.
This has led to the ‘China India border confrontation’ hashtag trending on Weibo. Weibo is just a blatant rip-off of Twitter, albeit controlled by the CCP as right from WhatsApp to Facebook to Twitter, everything is banned in China with government-controlled rip-offs existing in the market. The hashtag garnered 30 million views in the last one week which has prompted the CCP to censor the hashtag and if one tries to search for the hashtag now, a message saying “according to relevant laws and regulations, this post cannot be found” will pop-up.
https://twitter.com/ananthkrishnan/status/1269182859924762632?s=20
The hashtag gained traction after a video of the border confrontation between the Indian and Chinese soldiers got leaked which showed Chinese soldiers running away and leaving their armoured personnel carrying vehicles with both the sides indulging in stone-pelting. However, the video is not authenticated but the Indian Army hasn’t come out and explicitly denied the video’s authenticity.
There are many reasons why would the CCP would like to censor the hashtag. One reason could be perhaps China wants to state that there is no ill-will against India and is looking to restore the status quo after yesterday’s talks. As unverified videos of border stand-off continue to trickle, fake or misleading news could be detrimental to both the sides at such a delicate time.
Of course, the more realistic reason could be the fact that the leaked video directly contradicts the CCP’s narrative and it doesn’t want to show how its soldiers were fleeing away as its ‘fearless’ image will lie in tatters.
Another reason could be the fact that China is already facing severe backlash and is under massive international pressure as the world is battling a China-made pandemic and also the move to curtail Hong Kong’s autonomy by introducing the controversial national security legislation. The Chinese people certainly don’t want further backlash and sanctions as India is now diplomatically stronger than ever.
Only time will tell what is the conclusion of the face-off, but it appears China is set to blink first.