Chinese social media users are debating whether Beijing should back the Khalistan movement, with official media extensively reporting on the India-Canada diplomatic dispute. The downfall of former foreign minister Qin Gang has been linked to an alleged extramarital affair and the birth of a child in the United States. President Xi Jinping’s paranoia has come on full display as the obsession with national security has started to drive Chinese foreign policy. Chinascope delves into the news media’s coverage of India-Canada tensions, debates on social media, the opening ceremony of the 2023 Asian Games, and much more.
China over the week
The diplomatic spat between India and Canada started a debate on Chinese social media about where Beijing should stand vis-à-vis the dispute.
Users were intrigued by the row and seemed divided between supporting India and the Khalistan movement. The debate once again shows a limited understanding of India’s ethnic diversity in China.
But it remained a major point of debate on Chinese social media, with discussions on the topic running into 49 search pages on Weibo. “A falling out? West launches siege on India,” read one of the top 10 search trends on Baidu.
China’s Xinhua News Agency was quick to jump into reporting as soon as India and Canada expelled their diplomats on 18 September. The news was prominently displayed on the front page of the State-owned newspaper. China Daily’s reporter in Toronto did first-hand reporting on the tensions between the two countries. Even Global Times and People’s Daily did original reporting from Canada, which is unusual for Chinese State media, as it doesn’t wade into internal issues of other countries and have its reporters covering them.
“Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was killed in June by two masked men in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, where he served as president,” reported Rena Li for China Daily from Toronto. Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily reports, too, described Nijjar as a “Sikh leader”.
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India watchers in China suggested that they should back the Khalistan movement. “India is simply trying to seize the period of strategic opportunity, knowing it can act recklessly now. This opportunity has simply expired,” said the South Asia Studies Group on Weibo, implying that India was behind the killing of Nijjar.
The group suggested that Beijing back the Khalistan movement and get close to Sikhs in India. But even a group that pitches itself as a consortium of ‘experts on South Asia’ seems oblivious to the fact that the Khalistan movement has no support in India.
Meanwhile, some social media users said China shouldn’t back the movement. “It is a bit too naive to imagine that we can win over the Sikhs in India. Supporting Khalistan is just to cause trouble for India. Don’t get too involved,” said a user named ‘Gnawing Bear’ with over 1.9 million followers on Weibo.
Chinese State media channels such as CCTV, Phoenix Television, and CGTN covered every twist and turn of the tensions on their TV broadcasts.
“Diplomatic dispute between India and Canada intensifies, with both sides refusing to make concessions,” said Beijing News in a widely shared story on WeChat. Meanwhile, Global Times in Chinese suggested that the Joe Biden administration in the US maintained relative silence on the diplomatic dispute because Washington wants Delhi on its side for geostrategic reasons.
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“The most critical thing is that when it comes to targeting China, India is only making a small fuss and is unwilling to completely side with the West and confront China,” said Global Times in special reporting from Canada.
Even the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official newspaper covered it. “770,000 Sikhs are causing a quarrel between Canada and India!” read a headline by an overseas network of People’s Daily.
The spat also received attention from the news commentators who made videos on Weibo and Bilibili, explaining everything from who Sikhs are to what the India-Canada dispute was.
Beijing has had a poor record of using ethnic turbulence for geopolitical gains, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t itching to intervene now. Beijing has used its State media arm to shed light on the dispute in the hope that the US doesn’t side with India to counter China on every single issue.
Meanwhile, a story that went entirely unnoticed amid the tensions between India and Canada was the mysterious death of a British Columbia resident: Wei Hu, a Chinese activist and critic of the CCP. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is investigating the death of the Chinese national, who was one of the targets of Xi’s Operation Fox Hunt, a global “anti-corruption campaign” that coerces expatriates into returning to China.
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At the Asian Games
China’s treatment of athletes from Arunachal Pradesh was once again in the news. India has accused Beijing of preventing its athletes from travelling to China for the ongoing Hangzhou Asian Games. The three female Wushu players, Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega, and Mepung Lamgu, were denied entry into China via Hong Kong after their accreditation couldn’t be confirmed at the border port. In July 2023, Beijing also issued stapled visas to the Indian athletes—China’s way of claiming them as its own ‘nationals’.
“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh. The south Tibetan region is part of China’s territory,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
On 23 September 2023, Xi opened the Asian Games with much pomp while Union sports minister Anurag Thakur skipped the ceremony. From India, acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia, Raja Randhir Singh, attended the ceremony, including the opening banquet hosted by Xi.
Senior Chinese officials were informedduring an internal party meeting that Qin Gang had engaged in an extramarital affair in the US as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The rumours about the affair, allegedly involving TV show host Fu Xiaotian associated with Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, had started circulating in July.
The affair itself could have been let go by the CCP, but the reported birth of a child in the US triggered the investigation, according to a source that spoke to WSJ. China’s foreign minister fathering a child in the US would be a political liability that Xi can’t afford.
Within the CCP, extramarital affairs and promiscuity have been used as tools to target dissidents. In the past, senior CCP officials have found themselves in embarrassing situations following controversies surrounding their peers. Tennis player Peng Shuai’s allegations of sexual assault against former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli come to mind.
In Qin’s case, the plausibility that he was ousted for having a child in the US who could be used – or may have been used – as leverage against China’s foreign minister would be very difficult to digest in the Xi era.
Xi’s paranoia is now on full display at home and abroad.
“The Chinese flew in their own beds, curtains and carpets on a cargo plane, South African Police Minister Bheki Cele told local media,” according to Bloomberg. “There was nothing from South Africa in those rooms,” said Cele.
Xi doesn’t trust anyone with his security and remains paranoid about getting snooped upon. The story reveals how paranoid he has become about his personal and State security matters.
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The author is a columnist and a freelance journalist. He was previously a China media journalist at the BBC World Service. He tweets @aadilbrar. Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)