Fact Check: Old Unrelated Photos Shared In Connection With Violent Indo-China Clash At Galwan Valley
Writer: Aditi Chattopadhyay (Fact Checker)
Aditi, part of the fact checking team of The Logical Indian likes to read, write, cook and laugh, in short live life as it is supposed to be. What makes her fascinated is to discover the truth behind a story and more often than not, it is either fact or myth at the end.
India, 22 Jun 2020 2:07 PM GMT | Updated 22 Jun 2020 2:20 PM GMT
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The Logical Indian Fact Check team investigates the claim that Photos show Chinese conducting last rites of the soldiers killed in action in the recent clash at the Galwan Valley.
Photos apparently showing the Chinese troops conducting the last rites of their soldiers who were killed in action in the violent Indo-China clash on June 15 in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley are being forwarded on WhatsApp.
The Logical Indian received a request to verify the claims that are being made along with the photo. It is being said that around 50 soldiers lost their lives on the Chinese side on June 15 clash.
Below are the photos which are being circulated:
Claim:
Photos show Chinese conducting last rites of their soldiers killed in action in the recent clash at the Galwan Valley.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
The photos date back to April 2019.
A google reverse search of the photos led us to a report by Zhejiang News, which carried the viral photos.
"On April 4, the soldiers escorted the remains of the volunteer martyrs into the burial ground of the cemetery of the martyrs in Shenyang," reads the caption of the photos.
A keyword search based on the caption led to other news reports, which said that over 190,000 Chinese volunteer soldiers died in the Korean war, which started on 25 June 1950 and lasted till 27 July 1953.
More than 6 decades later, remains or possessions of many of the fallen have still not been returned to China.
Reportedly, the sixth batch of the remains of the martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers in South Korea was buried in the Shenyang Anti-American Aid Martyrs Cemetery on the morning of April 4, 2019. The viral photos documented the burial ceremony of the Chinese volunteer martyrs into the burial ground of the cemetery of the martyrs in Shenyang, capital of the northeastern province of Liaoning and the largest city in northern China.
Below are the viral pictures from different angles, as shown in the news reports:
Did The Chinese Confirm The Number Of Casualties On Their Side?
Neither such official confirmation of the death of Chinese soldiers from its govt or army nor news reports were found from keywords searches based on the information in the message.
Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) had also not issued any such information on the Indo-China clash.
On the other hand, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Global Times took to Twitter on June 16 and mentioned that the Chinese government has not released the official numbers of the casualties that occurred in the clash with Indian soldiers.
Chinese side didn't release number of PLA casualties in clash with Indian soldiers. My understanding is the Chinese side doesn't want people of the two countries to compare the casualties number so to avoid stoking public mood. This is goodwill from Beijing.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) June 16, 2020
However, in a recent development, Global Times, mouthpiece for the Chinese government tweeted on June 22 that the number of casualties was less than 20.
The reason why China did not release casualties number is that China also wants to avoid an escalation. If China releases the number which is less than 20, the Indian govt would again come under pressure: observer https://t.co/ik664PrYLU
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) June 22, 2020
India lost 20 of its brave hearts in the violent clash on June 15.
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