Don’t Use Anti-China Plank For Votes During Election Campaign In India, Warns Beijing

A day after the dates for the parliamentary elections in India were announced, China warned against ‘Anti-China Sentiments’ being stoked to gain votes during India’s election season.

“China does not want China-related issues to be manipulated by Indian political forces for votes and we don’t want negative opinions or feelings to be spread about our country,” said an opinion piece in the state run- Global Times on Sunday.

Titled ‘Anti-China sentiment must be avoided being exacerbated to gain votes during India’s election season’, the article said that “Modi’s intention to visit the area of Zangnan (Chinese nomenclature for the northeastern state on Arunachal Pradesh) on March 9 is a case in point. The area of Zangnan is Chinese territory. The Chinese government has never recognized the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh” illegally set up by India and firmly opposes it. China firmly opposes the Indian leader’s visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary, and has made solemn representations to India.”

“Some Indian media outlets and elites are also exploiting the issue of the India-China trade deficit, which is likely to become a topic in the election, leveraging anti-China sentiment to garner votes,” the article said.

According to the article, “For a long time, there has been certain hostility against China in India due to historical issues, border and trade issues. The self-defensive counterattack along the China-India border over 60 years ago still profoundly affects the relationship between the two countries.

“Chinese media is paying great attention to this election in India, as India is a neighboring country to China, and the two countries have frequent border disputes. In 2020, China and India were involved in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley, resulting in the deaths of four Chinese soldiers and at least 20 Indian soldiers,” it said.

However, according to the Australian newspaper ‘The Klaxon’ which cited a report prepared by a group of social media researchers after a year-long investigation, at least 38 PLA troops had drowned while crossing a fast-flowing during the Galwan clash.

The Global Times article also claimed that “India is also an important destination for Chinese investors, especially for mobile phone companies. In the past few years, the Indian government has taken some unfair measures in dealing with Chinese companies, which has triggered strong dissatisfaction among Chinese firms and Chinese people.

“External forces, especially Western public opinion, create comparisons through so-called democratic topics, pit one side against the other, sow discord between China and India, maliciously hype up China-India competition and even spread rumors to mislead India into viewing China as a major competitor. All this seriously affects and undermines the perception each side has of the other. During the election period, Indian public opinion needs to be highly vigilant against this kind of misleading that could cause long-term harm to China-India relations,” it said.

#Opinion: As India’s general election approaches, anti-China sentiment must be avoided being exacerbated to gain votes. Any attempt to exacerbate anti-China sentiment among the public to gain votes will ultimately cause more trouble for the bilateral relationship and bring more… pic.twitter.com/W4VPeP4xLm

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 17, 2024

“We hope that relevant parties in India will maintain a clear understanding of this. India’s existing electoral system has the potential to harm China-India relations,” it said, warning that “any attempt to exacerbate anti-China sentiment among the public to gain votes will ultimately cause more trouble for the bilateral relationship and bring more instability to India.”

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