Indian military vehicles march along a mountain road along the Sino-Indian border on July 4, 2020.
Shortly after China and India began withdrawing their troops from the border standoff area, official Chinese Communist Party media reported on February 19 the news that four Chinese officers and soldiers had died in last June’s Sino-Indian conflict. But the number of CCP casualties is far greater than these figures.
The situation on the Sino-Indian border heated up steeply starting in April 2020, and in June, during clashes between the two sides, regimental commander Qi Fa Bao was seriously wounded; battalion commander Chen Hongjun and soldiers Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuo Ran died, according to a Feb. 19 report in the Communist Party’s military newspaper.
According to the report, the CPC Central Military Commission awarded Qi Fabao the title of “Heroic Leader of the Border Guard,” Chen Hongjun the title of “Hero of the Border Guard,” and Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan, and Wang Zhuo Ran first-class merit.
This is the first Time the Chinese Communist Party has officially announced casualty figures in the India-China conflict.
On the evening of June 15 last year, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the most serious clash between Chinese and Indian forces in 45 years in the Galwan Valley in the western section of the border. The Chinese government has not released the number of dead and wounded since the incident.
U.S. media outlet News & World Report reported on June 16 that U.S. intelligence reports put the number of dead and seriously wounded Chinese soldiers at 35. But The Times of India, citing anonymous information, said 43 Chinese soldiers were killed or wounded.
According to Indian officers who showed photos taken by soldiers at the border, it was revealed that Chinese soldiers used wolfsbane (rusted steel welded nails) to launch attacks, and India responded with rocks and other attacks. Relations between India and China then took a sharp turn for the worse, with a total boycott of Chinese-made products and software by Indian officials and civilians.
Subsequently, border tensions between the two countries escalated. On August 29 and 30 last year, clashes between India and China broke out again at Bangong Lake. Although both sides said there were no casualties, several foreign media revealed that a Tibetan company commander of the Indian army was shot dead in the neck by Chinese communist troops and one of his Tibetan subordinates was injured.
On Sept. 7 last year, for the first time since 1975, Indian garrison troops fired warning shots at Chinese patrol soldiers at the border between China and India. After the incident, both sides accused each other of “firing threats”.
In response to the tensions, senior Indian and Chinese military commanders have held nine rounds of talks at the military chief level since the conflict began.
According to the latest round of talks between the two armies, the two sides will begin simultaneous disengagement in the Pangong Tso area on Feb. 10, 2021.
Indian Defense Minister Singh said Feb. 11 that an agreement has been reached on the “disengagement” of frontline troops on the northern and southern shores of Pangong Tso after ongoing negotiations with the Chinese Communist Party. The two countries will withdraw forward deployment in a phased and coordinated manner. He added that India “did not make any concessions” in the negotiations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he would “strictly implement the consensus reached between the two sides and ensure the smooth implementation of the disengagement process.”
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