An investigative report, published in an Australian tabloid named ‘The Klaxon’ stated that China had suffered a devastating loss in the Galwan Valley encounter in 2020. The report, which included exclusive findings of the editor, Anthony Klan, revealed that the casualties on Chinese side were significantly more than what was stated, since many men drowned while crossing a river in the valley.
According to the author, data and photographs from two distinct clashes in Galwan were mixed to obscure facts. Though China did not reveal the number of casualties in the Galwan fight, it did award posthumous medals to four soldiers who died in the combat, according to the article. However, only four names were published, while the total number of losses was up to 38. The Klaxon assembled an independent team of social media researchers for this inquiry, who discovered that China’s casualties went much beyond the four soldiers named by Beijing. The report added that China went to great measures to keep the conflict from being discussed. Many Chinese soldiers were killed in the early stages of the June 15-16 battle while attempting to swim in the fast-flowing Galwan river in sub-zero temperatures, according to a report released by these social media researchers titled ‘Galwan Decoded.’
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‘At least 38 PLA troops, including Wang, perished that night’, the report added, citing various Weibo users. ‘Of the four officially dead soldiers, only Wang was declared’. ‘China’s losses in the high-altitude 2020 Galwan Valley border clash with India- the deadliest confrontation between the two giants in over four decades, were much higher than reported, with many soldiers drowning while crossing a fast-flowing, sub-zero river in darkness, new research claims’, the report said.
The inquiry lasted a year, with materials gathered from mainland Chinese bloggers, residents, and media publications that Beijing had removed. ‘Beijing has retained a lot of information regarding what truly happened, what led to the skirmish, and concealed it. What China told the rest of the world was basically made-up stories’, the report said. According to the publication, “many blogs and pages have been purged by (Chinese officials), but digital archives of mainland China indicate a different story’.
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Following a severe skirmish in the Pangong lake area on May 5, 2020, the border stalemate in eastern Ladakh erupted, and both sides gradually increased their deployment by bringing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy equipment. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two parties concluded the disengagement process in Gogra, as well as on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake, last year. In the sensitive sector, each side has between 50,000 and 60,000 troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control.
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