Qi Fabao, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander who was involved in the clash with India in Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020, last year has been chosen to carry the Winter Olympic torch in Beijing on Wednesday. This selection follows some other moves by the Chinese authorities to keep the incident in the public spotlight.
The Winter Olympics that are being held in Beijing will be opening on Friday in a grand ceremony which will be attended by the President of China, Xi Jinping and some other world leaders such as the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and five of the Central Asian Presidents along with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.
The capital held a torch relay on Wednesday that saw the participation of 1200 torchbearers. Amongst these, was Qi Fabao, a regiment commander who was also honoured by the military of China after he sustained an injury on his head in the Galwan Valley clash with India that took place on June 15, 2020.
Qi Fabao took the flame from Wang Meng who is China’s 4-time Olympic short track speed skating champion, at Winter Olympic park. Earlier this year China had also hit out at the Western Countries for politicising the games after the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada stated that their officials will not be attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in wake of the human rights violations that have been taking place in Xinjiang. The athletes of these nations are participating in the games.
The Chinese government has been keeping the Galwan Valley clash that took place almost two years ago in the public spotlight even though both sides have continued talks in regards to the disengagement along the LAC (Line of Actual Control). On the first day of the “new year of the tiger”, the state channel China Central Television also known as CCTV began the broadcasting of a five-part documentary on the PLA soldiers of Xinjiang military command who are stationed along the LAC in Eastern parts of Ladakh. The first part of the documentary showed the patrols along the border including the flag-raising ceremony being held in Galwan Valley and boats can be seen patrolling the Spanggur Lake, located south of the Pangong Lake.
The series also included interviews with the relatives of the soldiers who lost their lives in the Galwan Valley clashes with India. Last year, in July, the President of China bestowed the Communist Party’s medal, to mark the hundredth anniversary, on Chen Hongjun, who was one of the 4 soldiers that were reported killed in the clash.
Last year in February, the Chinese military also announced honors posthumously for Chen and the other three, confirming it had suffered these deaths eight months after the clash. On the other hand, India also lost 20 soldiers in the clash that marked the most serious violence on the border with China since 1967.
