Chinese media ignores Ladakh incursion
issue
The issue of
incursion by Chinese troops into Depsang valley in Ladakh may have dominated
news headlines in India
over the past several days but it has not found much space in the media here. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's
visit to Beijing on May 9, which was announced
by China
yesterday, found a small mention in today's edition of the state-run China
Daily. The news item titled,
"Indian foreign minister to visit" appeared in the 'briefly' column in
one of the inside pages of the paper. The news item read, "Indian Foreign
Minister Salman Khurshid will make an official visit to China from May
9 to 10 as a guest of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry
said yesterday". The Chinese government has been asserting that its troops
have not violated Line of Actual Control (LAC) in erecting their tents at
Daulat Beg Oldi sector.
Chinese
leaders will meet Khurshid, and Wang will hold talks with his Indian
counterpart, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. There was no mention of
the purpose of Khurshid's visit nor was anything written about the dispute over
the presence of PLA troops in Depseng valley in Ladakh. Today's weekend edition
of the state-run Global Times did not carry any news about the Indian
Minister's visit. When asked how China Radio International (CRI) was reporting
about the incursion issue, its South Asia Centre Director Lou Hongbing evaded a
direct reply and said that though there should not be any obstacle in terms of
news, there will be no room for positive things if the negative aspect is
reported.
"Objectivity
and fairness are what we perceive in our reports. Both in India and China, there is information
explosion. So there is every possibility of false, fake or negative news in the
light of fierce competition. To promote friendship, we need to do something.
There should not be any confusion among readers, listeners and viewers,"
Lou told a group of visiting foreign journalists here. "A good neighbour
is much better than a decent relative. Our effort is to promote friendship
between the two countries," he said, adding Chinese reports are mainly
derived from news appearing in Indian and Western media.
When
asked about how he perceived Sino-India relations, particularly in the
aftermath of the incursion issue, a senior journalist of CRI told PTI, "We
haven't had many reports about it in Chinese media. Whatever I have learnt is
from the Indian media. Our governments are working together in taking bilateral
relations forward".
A couple of days
ago, an editorial in the Global Times, an English-language daily under the
People's Daily, was critical of the Indian media saying it has
"continuously created trouble for the Sino-Indian relationship". "Indian
media and Opposition politicians have been reporting that Chinese soldiers
intruded on Indian-claimed territory and erected tents inside Indian borders.
Such reports run along the same lines as those in 2009 that alleged Chinese
soldiers had entered into India
and painted the rocks with red spray paint," the editorial said. "Indian
officials denied such reports eventually, though the case remains
unsolved," it said. "The Indian government ought to clarify the
so-called 'intrusion' in a timely way and assume the responsibility of maintaining
a good atmosphere. However, it hasn't done so.
It
has remained silent and ambiguous, which indulges Indian media habits,"
the editorial under the heading, "New
Delhi bears brunt of border hysteria", said. Yesterday, while announcing about Khurshid's
trip, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua had said that the two sides will have
in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations as well as issues of common
interests. "We would like to make joint efforts with India to boost
China-India strategic cooperative partnership through this visit," she
said.
About
the stand-off on presence of Chinese troops in Daulat Beg Oldi area in Ladakh,
she had said, "While actively developing friendly cooperation, China and India are also committed to
resolving disputes including the boundary ones through peaceful negotiations
and try to ensure that this kind of disputes will not affect the development of
the bilateral relations".
Khurshid's trip
is expected to pave the way for the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India later
this month. Li, who took over charge last month after the leadership change,
wants India to be his first
stop in his maiden foreign tour to signal China's desire to deepen friendly
relations with the country. The Chinese government has also been urging the
media to be patient and create favourable conditions for the two countries to
solve this issue through friendly consultations.
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