China’s Foreign Ministry evaded questions on the Controversial, Insensitive Post by Official Weibo Account on India’s COVID situation.A social media post by a Weibo account linked to the Communist Party of China (CPC) had ridiculed the Covid-19 situation in India.
The post has now been deleted after lot of controversy and a slew of criticism. In response to a question on the goof-up, Chinese Foreign Ministry only stated that they have not found it on the relevant Weibo account. There was no response to the cause or the likelihood of any clarification or enquiry into this happening from an official account, a day after President Xi extended his sympathy for the COVID situation in India.
Rather, it hoped that the Indian side will pay attention to the Chinese government and mainstream public opinion to support India’s stance in fighting the epidemic. China Digital Times, which tracks China’s online world, reported: “Official accounts such as the Chinese Police Online and the Tianjin Municipal People’s Procuratorate have posted a picture on several platforms mocking India’s fight against the epidemic.
Chinese Social Media observers said, a clarification from the party account in question cannot be expected but it is clear there was no consensus on this post or else it would not have been removed so quickly. The Commission for Political and Legal Affairs (CPLA) of the CPC’s central committee published a collage of two images on its Weibo account having 15 million followers on Saturday, showing the Chinese rocket launch and the lighting of a pyre in India, side by side.
The CPLA is a powerful organ in the CPC structure and oversees police officers, prosecutors, and courts. Many Chinese citizens called the post insensitive, inhumane, and termed it inappropriate for an official account. One user termed it as a classic case of propaganda failure.“What we want to emphasize is that China has been paying close attention to the development of the epidemic situation in India.
