PLA soldiers are ‘mastering’ Hindi, and a Chinese court has imprisoned a man for disrespecting a’martyr’ named Galwan

*Paromita Das

At their military post on the south bank of Pangong Lake, PLA soldiers are learning Hindi. Two Chinese social media users expressed regret for their comments on the PLA’s Galwan casualties. Xi Jinping advises EU leaders to develop an “independent” perspective on China. In Shanghai, the Omicron spread is out of control. Chinascope brings you breaking news from China as it happens.
During a phone call with European Council presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen on April 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated, “It is hoped that the EU will develop an independent understanding of China, pursue an independent policy toward China, and work with China to promote the steady and long-term development of China-EU relations.”

“China backs the EU’s efforts to find a political solution to the Ukraine crisis… Instead of fueling the fire and intensifying conflicts, the international community must continue to create the conditions and environment for the Russia-Ukraine negotiation process and open up space for a political settlement,” Xi said during the call.

China reported 13,287 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday. Shanghai hospitals are overflowing with Covid patients, and almost the entire city has been placed under lockdown.

The classification of asymptomatic cases in China is causing increasing debate. A discussion between a Shanghai resident and the local CDC office called the government’s “zero-Covid” policy approach into question. City hospitals have been asked to reopen their emergency departments.
The public has also been outraged by videos showing toddlers being separated from their parents at a medical facility.

When travel blogger Li Qixian posted photos of a veteran’s tombstone from Kangxiwa cemetery, he had no idea he’d end up in prison. This week, Li was sentenced to seven months in prison and ordered to publicly apologize.

“We must honour heroes and martyrs and cherish their memories.” “I hope everyone takes this as a warning, and understands that the Internet is not a place outside the law, and everyone should be responsible for their own words and deeds,” Li said, according to a report by Legal Daily News.
Chen Mouying, another Chinese resident, was ordered by a Hangzhou district court to apologize for remarks he made about Xiao Siyuan, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier who died in the Galwan clash with the Indian Army.
“From February to April 2021, Chen Mou posted a total of 20 inappropriate comments on the martyr Xiao Siyuan under some media Weibo accounts, slandering his image and reputation,” according to Hangzhou City’s Linping District People’s Procuratorate.

The casualties suffered by the PLA in the June 2020 clash remain a sensitive subject in China.

During Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to Delhi, there was speculation that China was willing to soften its stance in Eastern Ladakh. That appears unlikely, given that PLA soldiers stationed at the Qiudijiangela post on the south bank of Pangong Lake are now learning Hindi – they aren’t leaving.
“Chini Sainik hain. Commander, humare hain. We are Chinese soldiers, hum batcheet kare. This is our leader. “Do you want to talk?)?” CCTV-7, China’s military TV network, broadcast what a PLA soldier named Xu Shihu wrote in his notebook. Xu is a Hexi University English teacher.

“I learned Hindi in four months!” “He negotiated with foreign troops on the front lines of border defence,” the state media broadcast’s headline read. The phrase ‘foreign troops’ refers to the Indian Army.