With Galwan soldier as Olympic torchbearer, China continues to make use of Galwan symbolism for PsyOps

Qi Fabao, a regiment commander of the Folks’s Liberation Military, who had fought through the Galwan Valley clashes with Indian troops in June 2020, and had acquired a commendation for his function within the combat, was one of many torchbearers for the Olympic flame for the Winter Olympics starting in Beijing from February 4. His photographs had been launched by International Occasions, an English-language information platform related to the Chinese language authorities in a tweet.

It has been a yr and a half because the troops clashed in violent hand-to-hand fight within the Galwan Valley that resulted in casualties on either side, however China has used photographs and symbolism associated to the conflict and the valley, projecting that it had the higher hand within the clashes, whilst the 2 international locations are embroiled in political, diplomatic and navy talks to resolve the standoff that started in Could 2020.

“Qi Fabao, a PLA regiment commander who sustained head harm whereas preventing bravely within the #Galwan Valley border skirmish with #India, is a torchbearer throughout Wed’s #Beijing2022 Winter Olympic Torch Relay.” International Occasions tweeted on Wednesday morning.

Final yr, China’s Navy Fee had conferred the title of “hero regiment commander for defending the border” on him.

By making him a torchbearer, the Chinese language authorities has publicly tried to venture Qi as a hero, and highlighted that he was concerned within the Galwan Valley combat. The gesture appears to be a deliberate try to cock a snook at India, which had refused to hitch 5 Western nations—america, Britain, Australia, Canada and Lithuania— to boycott the video games, and has despatched one participant.

However this isn’t the one time that China has introduced up Galwan Valley, in what look like PsyOps, or psychological operations, as half of a bigger propaganda, even because the tensions between India and China proceed to stay at a historic excessive. The over 21-month-long navy standoff in japanese Ladakh, of which Galwan Valley skirmish was part of, is but to be resolved, and the talks have been caught in a stalemate since July final yr.

The clashes had resulted within the demise of 20 Indian troopers, together with a Colonel, whereas China had final yr admitted to shedding no less than 4 of its troops, making it the bloodiest encounter between the troops of the 2 nations in over 4 many years.

Lower than a month in the past, the International Occasions had reported that PLA’s Western Theatre Command, accountable for the complete border with India, debuted on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo on January 7, with a discover saying that “On February 1 it’ll randomly select 10 fortunate netizens from those that reposted the discover and ship them a stone from the Galwan Valley as a gift.” It added {that a} “image with Chinese language troopers patrolling the Galwan Valley, with a rockface seen within the put up studying in Chinese language characters ‘Splendid panorama, no inch to surrender’ was posted along with the discover.”

Only a week after the Indian Military launched photographs of Indian and Chinese language troopers exchanging New 12 months’s greetings throughout a number of factors on the Line of Precise Management, Chinese language handles related to state-owned media shared a video of PLA troops unfurling China’s nationwide flag within the Galwan Valley. Shen Shiwei, a journalist with China International Tv Community, tweeted the video saying, “China’s nationwide flag rise over Galwan Valley on the New 12 months Day of 2022. This nationwide flag may be very particular because it as soon as flew over Tiananmen Sq. in Beijing.”

In response, the Indian Military, too, put out pictures of Indian troopers with the nationwide flag within the Galwan Valley. Military sources had later talked about that video with Chinese language troopers was shot on their aspect of the LAC, a lot deeper than the demilitarised zone that was created after the 2 sides had agreed to disengage from Patrolling Level 14 in Galwan Valley, instantly after the clashes, transferring again 2 kms on both aspect.

It is very important observe that many of the almost 65-km-long Galwan River is on the Chinese language aspect of the LAC, with simply over 5 km on the Indian aspect, earlier than it merges with the Shyok River.

In September too, whereas celebrating their Martyr’s Day, the Western Theatre Command had reportedly launched a video of its troopers alongside the Galwan River, stating that that they had given their lives to defend the nation.

In February 2021, when either side had been within the technique of pulling again their troops from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, the place troops and tanks had been just some hundred meters aside in some areas, Chinese language journalist Shen launched a video on Twitter, which he claimed was of the Galwan Valley combat. He stated in his tweet, “On-site video of final June’s #GalwanValley skirmish launched. It exhibits how did #India’s border troops progressively trespass into Chinese language aspect. #ChinaIndiaFaceoff”.

This got here simply hours after China, for the primary time, formally introduced that 4 PLA personnel, together with a battalion commander, died in clashes with Indian troops within the Galwan Valley, and one other officer, of the rank of a Colonel, was “critically injured within the skirmish”. The video additionally confirmed an honour guard carrying the coffins of Chinese language troopers killed within the Galwan clashes.