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NEW DELHI: Days after China issued an “unprecedented” advisory calling on Indian media not to cover National Taiwan Day on Saturday, an official from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posted posters in front of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi congratulating Taipei on the occasion.
“The poster was a reaction to Chinese guidelines issued to the media. Who is China to dictate to the Indian media? Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, BJP spokesperson, told Arab News.
“If China believes that it can impose conditions on India, then such an adequate response was needed. India is a democracy and not a dictatorial communist nation like China, and here the people have a voice and do what they want, ”he said.
Delhi police removed the Bagga posters shortly after they went viral on social media.
However, the police spokesman declined to comment on the “routine” move when contacted by Arab News on Saturday.
It follows a forcefully drafted letter by China on Wednesday after various media outlets ran announcements to mark National Taiwan Day on October 10.
“All countries that have diplomatic relations with China must firmly honor their commitment to the one-China policy, which is also the long-standing official position of the government of India,” read excerpts from the letter from the Chinese Embassy.
The letter urged Taiwan not to be referred to as a “country” or as the “ROC”, nor to its leader as a “president”, adding: “We hope that the Indian media can stick to the government’s position. Indian on the Taiwan question and not violate the one-China principle. “
Bagga, however, said that China’s warning was not directed at the media, but at India itself.
“The letter to the media does not mean media; means India. The poster was a kind of protest, not as a member of a party, but as an individual who loves India. “
Experts see the Indian media coverage and posters outside the embassy as a reflection of “current Indian sentiment.”
“India’s official position on Taiwan is not changing, but there is certainly a debate in India about whether it should change,” Harsh V. Pant, a foreign policy expert at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) based in India, told Arab News. New Delhi. .
“It also shows that China needs to be aware of this kind of sentiment in India, that now there are people who are willing to take this kind of risk. There is a greater negative reaction against the communist regime. These types of episodes are symptomatic of the underlying turnover in India, ”said Pant.
As for the BJP, he said that MPs and party leaders have been “coming to Taiwan in their individual capacity,” with some attending the virtual swearing-in ceremony of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
On Thursday, the central government told China that the Indian media could cover the issues in its own way.
“There are free media in India reporting on the issues as they see fit,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said at a press conference.
Some journalists, however, mentioned the letter from the Chinese embassy.
“It is unprecedented and aims to restrict the Indian media. . . and reaffirm aggressive China against India’s rapprochement to the Western alliance against the communist regime, ”Manish Kumar Jha, a Delhi-based journalist who covers defense and foreign affairs, told Arab News.
“I firmly believe that the Indian media should continue to speak freely on any issue in our dynamic democratic setup.”
New Delhi and Taipei do not have formal and fully developed diplomatic relations, but both share close commercial and cultural ties.
Both opened their first representative offices in each other’s countries in 1995.
The relationship between India and China has been strained since May this year when the two countries clashed along the disputed Himalayan border region in Ladakh.
Things got worse after the death of 20 Indian soldiers on June 15, when the two countries exchanged blows for the first time in 45 years.
And while the talks continue to reduce tensions between the two neighbors, it appears that the conflict has no end in sight.
“The border issue, of course, has created more anger in Indian civil society. But I don’t see that the Chinese embassy statement on the Indian media is linked to the border issue. This is part of a broader approach to diplomacy in which Chinese diplomats and media actively seek to shape narratives in other countries, ”Manoj Kewalramani, from the Bangalore-based think tank, Takshashila Institution, told Arab News. .
“I don’t think Beijing believes that Delhi is close to abandoning the one-China policy. And I don’t think the Indian government is seriously considering that possibility, “he said.
Pant disagrees, saying that China should instead focus on the negative perception of the communist regime within India, which is on the rise, and people are feeling “quite angry”.
“If China continues on its disruptive path where it does not recognize India’s interests at all, then most of the Indians today are quite angry. There is a change in the perception that Indians have of China, which is extremely negative. By focusing on the official position of the Indian government, China must be missing out on something substantial that is happening in India, where public opinion is as negative as it can get. “
