As tensions continue to simmer between India and China following violent clashes in the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh, the Chinese state media— Global Times continued Beijing’s psychological warfare against India by sharing a disparaging caricature of an elephant personifying India on its Twitter account.
Alleging India of having a misguided perception about its global heft, the official Twitter account of the Chinese propaganda machine Global Times tweeted, “#GTCartoon: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the superpower in the world?” along with a picture depicting an elephant gloating over its strength in front of a mirror. The elephant in the cartoon wore a short with saffron, white and green stripes, leaving no doubt about whom it intends to represent.
The caricature belittling India was shared by the Global Times as a part of the stratagem it has adopted lately to dissuade India from going hard against the expansionist People Liberation Army along the border in the Eastern Ladakh. Ever since the PLA cast its evil eyes on the land legitimately under the jurisdiction of India, the Global Times has doggedly pursued the policy of patronising India while aggrandising China’s strength, in a bid to discourage New Delhi to take punitive military action against the Chinese army along the LAC in Ladakh.
Whitewashing Chinese army’s imperialistic moves, Global Times editor Hu Xijin yesterday pinned the blame of the rising tensions between the two countries on the “self-aggrandising going on among the Indian elites”, patronisingly suggesting India come to their senses. This is a typical modus operandi by the Global Times to browbeat other countries by belittling them and providing a pretentious account of their country’s might.
I believe the core reason of deadly physical clash between Chinese and Indian border troops is the self-aggrandizing going on among the Indian elite. #India needs to come to their senses. India shouldn’t misjudge #China again: Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin #HuSays pic.twitter.com/dZ0Qio0L2c
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) June 18, 2020
While the cartoon mocking India was an attempt in this series to apply psychological pressure on India, it did not sit well with the mindful Twitter users in India who gave Global Times back in the same coin. One of the Twitter users photoshopped the caricature with Chinese flags and called out the cowardice of Beijing.
Fixed ! #CowardChina https://t.co/CcY1lvvQbK pic.twitter.com/AXRQPs1wa4
— Mohd. Sajid 🍁 (@Beingsajiddarr) June 19, 2020
Another Twitter user reminded the bloody nose that the Indian soldiers gave PLA troopers in Galwan Valley during the fisticuffs between the two sides on June 15 following which China has withheld from sharing the count of casualties on their side.
🤣🤣U can defeat india in cartoons only.. Bcoz even ur ancestors had no dare to come for a faceoff directly with india…. Shameless country did not even show the count of dead soldiers! I wonder if u atleast gave the bodies to their family….
— Prince✌ (@decodemeifucan) June 19, 2020
When a ‘verified’ blue tick Chinese media account starts making idiotic cartoons on some nation, that is the time one knows how scared & rattled the Chinese Communist Party has become, said another Twitter user reacting on the caricature shared by the Global Times.
When a ‘ verified’ blue tick Chene media account starts making idiotic cartoons on some nation, that is the time one knows how shit scared & rattled #CCPChina has become. More power to India & her brave soldiers..Jai Hind🇮🇳
— 𝓑𝓲𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓪 (@bidishalolo) June 19, 2020
Possibly realising that the caricature might do more harm than good for the Chinese interest in India as well as across the globe, the Global Times promptly pulled down the post that carried the cartoon that mocked India.
There is a groundswell of anti-China sentiments rising among Indians as clamours for boycotting ‘Made in China’ continue to gain prominence among the national discourse. The Chinese companies heavily invested in India may be at the receiving end of this backlash as Indians hurt by the Chinese betrayal turn towards boycotting Chinese products. The Global Times, perhaps, is also spooked by India’s ability to give a befitting reply to the Chinese forays into the Indian territory. It appears that it is yet to recover from India’s riposte last time when the PLA soldiers’ preplanned assault against the Indian troopers resulted in massive casualties on the Chinese side, so much so that Beijing chose to remain silent on the fatalities caused by the violent clashes with the Indian side.
Violent Clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley
At least 20 Indian soldiers, including Commanding Officer, had attained martyrdom in the violent clashes with the Chinese troopers in Eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, the Indian Army said on Tuesday. The Army had initially claimed that 3 soldiers, including one Commanding Officer, were killed in the skirmishes but later in the evening it revised the figure to 20 saying 17 others had succumbed to their injuries due to the prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures.
Though Beijing remained reticent on the number of casualties suffered by it, the Indian Government said that the Chinese side endured heavy casualties with close to 43-45 PLA soldiers been seriously injured or killed in the clashes. Now, a US intel report has stated that at least 35 Chinese soldiers have perished in the brawl at the Galwan Valley.
The killing of the Indian soldiers marks the Indian Army’s worst losses since the Kargil War in 1999 and signifies the most intense military combat between India and China since 1967 when about 80 Indian soldiers and at least 300 Chinese PLA troops were killed in the course of the savage skirmishes that broke out near the Nathu La and Cho Lo passes, the strategic gateway to the crucial Chumbi valley.
