Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
A ten-second video, purportedly showing a group of Chinese soldiers attending to a colleague with a head injury, is being widely shared on social media, with users linking it to the recent clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. Defence minister Rajnath Singh had, on December 13, confirmed in the Parliament that on December 9, China PLA troops “encroached upon and attempted to change the status quo” in the Yangtse area of the Tawang sector.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
“On December 9, in the Yangtse area of Tawang sector, PLA troops encroached upon and attempted to change the status quo. This attempt was tackled by our troops in a determined manner. Our troops bravely stopped the PLA from encroaching upon our territory and forced them to go back to their post,” the defence minister said. Reports said that soldiers from both sides suffered ‘minor injuries’. According to India Today, six Indian soldiers were injured in the face-off, who were airlifted to the 151 base hospital in Guwahati’s Basistha for treatment.
Fact check
Newschecker first did a reverse image search of the keyframes of the video which led us to this NBC news report featuring a longer version of the viral clip, dated February 19, 2021, titled “Chinese state broadcaster releases footage of deadly clash with Indian troops”. From the 00:48 mark you can see the excerpt that is being widely shared on social media, claiming it to be from the December 9 clash.
According to the description, China’s state TV has released footage for the first time showing a deadly brawl between Chinese and Indian troops along the fiercely disputed border between the two countries. The clash happened in June 2020 in the Galwan Valley of the Himalayas. At the time, India announced that 20 of its soldiers had been killed. Only now has China admitted four of its soldiers also died.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search, which led us to multiple news reports of China sharing a video of the 2020 border clash with Indian troops in Galwan Valley. The reports can be seen here, here and here, confirming that the viral video is of the 2020 clash.
According to a South China Morning Post report, dated February 22, 2021, Beijing confirmed on February 19 for the first time that four Chinese soldiers were killed and one was seriously wounded in the deadliest conflict in the area in over 40 years. A newspaper report from PLA Daily says Indian troops ambushed the men on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control. Previously, China had only confirmed that at least one Chinese soldier was killed in the encounter, which also left at least 20 Indians dead. “…Later footage shows a large melee of troops from both sides and clashes in the dark, before Chinese soldiers are seen treating a man on the floor whose head is covered in blood,” read a Mint report, dated February 20, 2021.
Conclusion
A 2020 video of a PLA soldier injured during the clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley is being falsely shared as a clip of the December 9, 2022 conflict at Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
Result: False
Sources
NBC news report, February 19, 2021
Money Control report, February 20, 2021
South China Morning Post report, February 22, 2021
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
