Indo-China border: 4 Chinese soldiers killed in bloody clashes last year, China announces

02/19/2021 USA



In more than 40 years of deadly border clashes between two nuclear-armed neighbors, both sides fought with fists, stones and nailed bamboo poles. New Delhi had earlier said that at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed during clashes in the Galvan Valley area.
On Friday, China’s official military newspaper, the PLA Daily, reported that a battalion commander, Chen Hongjun, and three soldiers – Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Xuan and Wang Xuoran – had been killed in a “fierce struggle” to defend the border, and were put to death.
The award was also given to Qi Fibao, a regimental commander of the PLA Xinjiang Military Command, who was seriously wounded in the clash, the report said.

The PLA did not disclose the rank of daily soldiers.

Twenty Indian soldiers killed after clashes with China on disputed border
According to a report by the PLA Daily, “foreign troops” violated the agreement with China and entered the Chinese side of the border to set up tents. The report also claims that while the QA led some PLA troops to negotiate, the Indian side deployed more troops in an attempt to force the Chinese troops to confess.

China and India have blamed each other for the clash.

An Indian military source had earlier told CNN that the controversy erupted over a Chinese tent erected the night before the clash. According to sources, the Indian Army had overpowered him. The next day, Chinese soldiers armed with stones and bamboo sticks with nails returned, the source said, and attacked unprepared Indian soldiers. Unable to independently verify this account of CNN events.
In a comment posted on the official social media account of China’s Ministry of Defense on Friday, spokesman Ren Guoqiang accused India of “distorting the truth, misleading the international community and condemning Chinese officials and soldiers in the border forces.” He said China “maintained high restraint in maintaining relations between the two countries and the armed forces and worked to cool the situation.”

Ren added that “to clarify the truth”, China’s state media published a report on the incident.

Disputed Border

India and China share a 2,100-mile (3,379-kilometer) border in the Himalayas. Places that are poorly defined and heavily disputed. Both sides claim territory on both sides of it.

The June 2020 conflict erupted near Pangong Tso, a strategically important lake about 14,000 feet (4,267 m) above sea level, extending from the Indian territory of Ladakh to Chinese-controlled Tibet, where India, China and Pakistan all Claims the same area.

In 1962, India and China fought on this remote, degraded land, eventually establishing the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a de facto border decorated by Pengong Tso. However, both countries do not agree on the exact location of the LAC and both want to outdo it on a regular basis, or expand their territory. Since then, they have a history of mostly non-lethal melee over border conditions.

Tensions between New Delhi and Beijing led the two countries to agree in September to stop sending more troops to the border. The situation was temporarily resolved as both sides engaged in several rounds of talks.

New satellite images show Chinese troops camping on disputed India border

But another “minor” confrontation broke out between the two sides in January, according to the Indian military, although it said “a settlement was reached by local commanders in accordance with local protocol.”

On February 10, China’s defense ministry said that after an agreement was reached with India, the two countries began dispersing along the south and north coasts of Pangong Tso.

According to satellite images, China has withdrawn troops, dismantling infrastructure on the disputed border.

Satellite photos taken on January 30 by US-based Marxist Technologies showed a number of Chinese deployments along with Pengong Tso. In new images taken Tuesday, dozens of vehicles and building constructions were left vacant.

CNN’s Brad Landon, James Griffiths and Jesse Young contributed to the report.

.

Tags

Designed by Tricksfast Solutions
© Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved