Doklam Standoff: Chinese state media mocks India with racist video
Chinese media has been warning and accusing India of wrongfully entering China's territory for over two months now. But the official Chinese news agency Xinhua has now stooped to racism to target India. It released a tacky video '7 Sins of India' mocking India, especially Sikhs. In the video, full of distorted facts, India is called a 'bad neighbor' and 'robber'.
Xinhua's online series
The video over Doklam dispute is part of Xinhua's online series, The Spark, an English chat show. It is an amateur attempt to use "humor" and win over an international audience. It is posted on YouTube and Twitter that are banned in China.
About the Doklam military standoff
Doklam is a territory in the tri-junction of India, China, and Bhutan; both Bhutan and China claim Doklam. China started building a road in Doklam after which India sent troops to stop China, in coordination with Bhutan. The standoff began on 16 June; China is threatening India to withdraw or face the consequences similar to that of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, which India lost.
What actually happens in the video?
Anchor Dier Wang talks from China's perspective of the ongoing border dispute. Also seen is an actor wearing a turban, an ill-fitting beard, sunglasses, who we are to assume is an Indian Sikh soldier. The "Indian" actor pathetically attempts to mimic Indian accent and create humor; the canned laughter doesn't help either. A second actor also appears in the video, supposedly a Bhutanese.
India committed seven sins in last two months, says video
According to the video, the seven sins are: "trespassing," "violating bilateral convention," "trampling international law," "confusing right and wrong," "putting the blame on victim," "hijacking small neighbor (Bhutan)," and "sticking to mistake knowingly". All these seem to be China's misconceptions rather than India's sins.
Video blames India for the standoff
Anchor Dier says China realized it's impossible to awaken someone pretending to be asleep. She questions why India is worried about a neighbor (China) building a path in his garden (Doklam). She mocks India by saying it is "inventing various excuses to whitewash its illegal move" in Doklam. The "Indian" seems to be bullying the "Bhutanese", by pointing a pair of scissors at him.
Bulldozers into the neighbor's house?
The anchor says, "Indian troops carrying weapons and driving bulldozers illegally crossed the delimited boundary." She questions, "What kind of neighbor would that be? Didn't your mama tell you, never break the law?" She adds, "If you wanna play, get out of my house first."
Indian media organizations slam the racist video
The Hindustan Times stated it was "a racist video parodying Indians" that "particularly targets the Sikh minority." The Times of India said "Chinese media resorted to a new low" while India Today accused "Chinese media has gone a step further, unabashedly mocking India." According to NDTV, Xinhua, in the video, "embellished its comments with poorly spelt subtitles and racial stereotypes."
