BEIJING: Several bridges along a mountainous highway connecting the two regions of Tibet and Xinjiang have been named after the four People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers who died in a clash with Indian troops in the Galwan Valley, along the Line of Actual Control, two years ago, Chinese state media reported on Friday.
Some of the bridges have also been named after the hometowns of the soldiers, who were killed in a brutal clash between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh in June 2020, according to a report in Global Times. The clash left that left 20 Indian soldiers. While, China has claimed only four deaths, the Indian Army believes that the Chinese army lost anywhere between 43 to 67 men.
Naming the bridges along the G219 highway after the soldiers or their hometowns is “a way of commemorating those heroes who have become the epitome of Chinese people’s ever-growing patriotic sentiment,” the state-run tabloid said.
The names of the four soldiers — Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran — were only revealed by the Chinese government in February 2021.
“Along the G219 highway, 11 bridges are now named after the martyrs and their hometowns including Xiangrong bridge, Siyuan bridge, Zhuoran bridge and Hongjun bridge, as some pictures circulating online showed,” the report said. “The title of ‘Border-defending Hero’ was conferred posthumously to Battalion Commander Chen Hongjun, while Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran received first-class merits.”
Part of the G219 highway – connecting the two autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang – passes through the disputed Aksai Chin area, Indian territory illegally occupied by China.
It is the latest Chinese effort to weave an anti-India narrative around the Galwan Valley clash.
Qi Fabao, the Chinese military commander injured in the clash, attended the opening ceremony of the key Communist Party of China (CPC) 20th national congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 16.
Qi was one of the 304 delegates from the PLA and the People’s Armed Police chosen to attend the all-important meeting of the party. He was also present in the video footage played at the Great Hall of People, which showed him rushing towards Indian troops in Galwan Valley, ahead of the clash. The clip was shown ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s inaugural speech at the congress, showcasing the Communist Party’s achievements.
In February, India announced a diplomatic boycott of both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing after Qi was chosen by China as one of the torchbearers ahead of the Games’ opening. He was among the 1,200 torchbearers at a torch relay for the Beijing Games.
(With inputs from HTC in New Delhi)
