China names bridges in Tibet, Xinjiang after PLA troops killed in Galwan Valley conflict | World News

BEIJING: A number of bridges alongside a mountainous freeway connecting the 2 areas of Tibet and Xinjiang have been named after the 4 Individuals’s Liberation Military (PLA) troopers who died in a conflict with Indian troops within the Galwan Valley, alongside the Line of Precise Management, two years in the past, Chinese language state media reported on Friday.

Among the bridges have additionally been named after the hometowns of the troopers, who have been killed in a brutal conflict between Indian and Chinese language troops in japanese Ladakh in June 2020, in response to a report in International Occasions. The conflict left that left 20 Indian troopers. Whereas, China has claimed solely 4 deaths, the Indian Military believes that the Chinese language military misplaced anyplace between 43 to 67 males.

Naming the bridges alongside the G219 freeway after the troopers or their hometowns is “a means of commemorating these heroes who've grow to be the epitome of Chinese language individuals’s ever-growing patriotic sentiment,” the state-run tabloid mentioned.

The names of the 4 troopers -- Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran -- have been solely revealed by the Chinese language authorities in February 2021.

“Alongside the G219 freeway, 11 bridges at the moment are named after the martyrs and their hometowns together with Xiangrong bridge, Siyuan bridge, Zhuoran bridge and Hongjun bridge, as some photos circulating on-line confirmed,” the report mentioned. “The title of ‘Border-defending Hero’ was conferred posthumously to Battalion Commander Chen Hongjun, whereas Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran obtained first-class deserves.”

A part of the G219 freeway - connecting the 2 autonomous areas of Tibet and Xinjiang - passes via the disputed Aksai Chin space, Indian territory illegally occupied by China.

It's the newest Chinese language effort to weave an anti-India narrative across the Galwan Valley conflict.

Qi Fabao, the Chinese language navy commander injured within the conflict, attended the opening ceremony of the important thing Communist Occasion of China (CPC) twentieth nationwide congress on the Nice Corridor of the Individuals in Beijing on October 16.

Qi was one of many 304 delegates from the PLA and the Individuals’s Armed Police chosen to attend the all-important assembly of the occasion. He was additionally current within the video footage performed on the Nice Corridor of Individuals, which confirmed him dashing in the direction of Indian troops in Galwan Valley, forward of the conflict. The clip was proven forward of Chinese language chief Xi Jinping’s inaugural speech on the congress, showcasing the Communist Occasion’s achievements.

In February, India introduced a diplomatic boycott of each the opening and shutting ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympic Video games in Beijing after Qi was chosen by China as one of many torchbearers forward of the Video games’ opening. He was among the many 1,200 torchbearers at a torch relay for the Beijing Video games.

(With inputs from HTC in New Delhi)