Beijing has kept up its old practice of hiding crucial information from public: Report

The recent revelation on how China kept secret the real casualties of Galwan Valley clash indicates that the Chinese government has kept up with its old practice of hiding crucial information from the public, a media report said.

In a shocking revelation about China hiding its losses in the Galwan Valley clash with India in June 2020, new research has shown that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) lost at least nine times more soldiers than its official count of four.

At least 38 PLA troops drowned while crossing a fast-flowing, sub-zero river in darkness, according to an article in the Australian newspaper 'The Klaxon' which cited a report prepared by a group of social media researchers after a year-long investigation.

Of the four soldiers China has confirmed died, only one - Junior Sergeant Wang Zhuoran - is reported as having drowned, the investigative newspaper said.

The report cited a year-long investigation involving discussions with mainland Chinese bloggers, information obtained from mainland-based Chinese citizens and media reports that have since been deleted by Chinese authorities.

The HK Post reported that this revelation comes as a great shock to people in China since the Beijing government had reported just four deaths in the fierce dogfight in the high-altitude Galwan Valley.

Analysts say that now Chinese President Xi Jinping's government will have to face a public backlash, though this kind of behaviour from the Chinese government is not unusual.

China has a history of downplaying the number of casualties whenever the country is struck by disasters or accidents or resorts to suppression of its people.

"Many even doubted China's declared number of COVID-19 casualties. The communist government in Beijing is often blamed for blocking communication and silencing critics and whistle-blowers in order to withhold sensitive information that its citizens have every right to know," the report added.

According to The HK Post, Chinese authorities are to be blamed for hiding the actual number of people who died in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the COVID-19 originated in China, forcing Beijing to impose heavy lockdowns, the official number of deaths has been just 4,636 in the country with a population of 1.6 billion. Many independent analysts and researchers don't agree with this number.

These recent developments indicate that the Chinese Communist Party-led government in Beijing has kept up with its old practice of hiding crucial information from its own people.

( With inputs from ANI )

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