Chinese soldiers seen crying on way to Indian border
A viral video showing crying soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has given quite the opportunity to Taiwanese media to mock China. The clip showed young soldiers, purportedly shedding tears, as they were sent to LAC — the hotspot of Indo-China tensions. Taiwan's pro-independence media implied that Chinese soldiers were afraid of the Indian Army; a charge Chinese outlets denied. Here's what happened.
China sees Taiwan as own, hopes to "reunify" it
Notably, Beijing considers Taiwan as a rebel territory and wants to "reunify" it with mainland China. China also claims countries can't have diplomatic relations with both Taiwan and itself, hence, only a handful of them have formal ties with Taiwan. Fortunately, for Taiwan, the US is an ally. As in the case of India, China's military tensions with Taiwan have also been escalating recently.
Anti-China media houses spoke of video, mocked PLA
In Taiwan, media houses like Liberty Times and Taiwan News are known for their unapologetic anti-China stand. When the video surfaced, they cashed in on the opportunity to mock China. "As tensions continue to simmer on the Sino-Indian border, a video surfaced on Sunday (September 20) showing PLA soldiers crying as they are allegedly deployed to the border," the Taiwan News reported on Tuesday.
Taiwanese media claimed soldiers were college students
The report added that the soldiers were apparently college students, with five of them volunteering to serve in Tibet, another region seeking freedom from China. The Galwan Valley skirmish with Indian troops was also mentioned by the media house. To recall, China never acknowledged its casualties after the violent episode in June, but reports claim its death toll trumps India's fatalities of 20.
PLA soldiers were crying hysterically, said Taiwan News
The report said the recruits belonged to Yingzhou District, Fuyang City, Anhui. "In the video, the soldiers can be seen sobbing hysterically as they struggle to sing the words to the PLA song 'Green Flowers in the Army'," the Taiwan News added. The clip was extensively shared across China and Pakistan, with comedian Zaid Hamid also allegedly taking a jibe at PLA.
Soldiers learned of deployment after boarding bus, claimed one netizen
Taiwanese media spreading misinformation, retorted Global Times
Reacting strongly to the enunciation of Taiwanese media, Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime, said the reality was different. "They were bidding farewell to their parents and sang the famous military song 'Green Flowers in the Army,' and they sang 'Go home when you celebrate your work,' completely contrary to the mood created by Taiwanese media," said GT.
Global Times claimed Taiwanese media used vague terms
"They tried to use all kinds of explicit hints to shape the image of the PLA fighters being 'afraid of war,' when describing all the key information, the author used vague terms such as 'reported' and 'probable,' which seemed very guilty," opined GT.
Earlier, Chinese Air Force's propaganda video was derided
This is not the only time when China's military strength was ridiculed. Not long ago, a propaganda video, showing H-6 bombers seemingly attacking US bases, was shared by China's Air Force. Internet users were quick to point out that the video, which was viewed nearly 5 million times on Weibo, was replete with scenes from Hollywood movies like Transformers and The Hurt Locker.
To recall, India respected soldiers' sacrifices, China didn't acknowledge casualties
As China remains engaged in a military stand-off with India over crucial areas in Eastern Ladakh, it has received global criticism for fanning tensions and not bestowing a respectful goodbye to its fallen soldiers. Unlike China, India acknowledged casualties and gave a befitting tribute to 20 martyred soldiers. New Delhi has also maintained that PLA found itself ill-prepared as it faced brave Indian soldiers.
