BEIJING – Chinese state media Saturday released a dramatic footageshowing violent clashes between troops at the Indian border in June lastyear. On Friday, China said that its four soldiers were killed in lastJune’s conflict with Indian forces, the first confirmation of deaths byBeijing from the border clash that also killed at least 20 Indian soldiers.
“We all know that conflict broke out in Galwan in June last year andresponsibility does not rest with Chinese side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’sSpokesperson Hua Chunying said during her regular briefing late Friday. Shesaid that there were causalities, but in order to uphold the generalinterests of the two militaries and countries and de-escalate the tension,we have exercised great restraint showing China’s responsibility. But theIndian side has repeatedly played up the incident to distort the truth andmisled the international public opinion.
Footage later released by state broadcaster CCTV appeared to show Indiantroops wading through a river towards Chinese soldiers in the barren andice-covered Karakoram Mountains, carrying sticks and shields reading“Police”. A bilateral accord prevents the use of guns by either side, andbrutal clashes between the two sides on the ill-defined border ofteninvolve sticks, rocks and fist-fights.
“They have now moved another new tent here,” one soldier says in the video,which claims the Indian side broke the consensus and crossed the line to“provoke” Chinese soldiers.
Later footage shows a large melee of troops from both sides and clashes inthe dark, before Chinese soldiers are seen treating a man on the floorwhose head is covered in blood. The high-altitude border battle in theGalwan valley in June was one of the deadliest clashes between the twosides in recent decades.
Beijing acknowledged that the clash had resulted in casualties but did notconfirm if any Chinese soldiers died until this week. The CCTV voiceoversaid the Chinese soldiers were “heroically sacrificed”.
Battalion commander Chen Hongjun and three other soldiers have been givenposthumous awards, the defence ministry said. State media reported that theyoungest soldier to die was 19.
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India and China fought a border war in 1962 and have long accused eachother of seeking to cross their frontier — which has never been properlyagreed — in India’s Ladakh region, just opposite Tibet.
Beijing and New Delhi later sent tens of thousands of extra troops to theborder, but said last week they had agreed to “disengage” along the borderarea.
Caption.doc
Photos taken from footage, recorded in mid-June 2020 and run on February19, 2021, by China’s CCTV, shows Indian and Chinese troops face off in theGalwan Valley on the disputed border between China and India.
