China keen to play down India clash before key meeting with US, insiders say

Name: Death toll rises to 20 in border clash between India and China
Uploaded: 2020-06-17T15:00:06.000Z
Duration: 1 min 59 s
Description: Death toll rises to 20 in border clash between India and China

Beijing ‘wants to de-escalate the situation ahead of the Yang-Pompeo’ talks, according to source close to People’s Liberation Army

China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi is set to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Hawaii on Wednesday

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An Indian army convoy makes way towards Leh, bordering China, on June 17, 2020. Fighting broke out between Indian and Chinese soldiers in a skirmish on Monday. Photo: AFP

Minnie Chan

Published: 11:00pm, 17 Jun 2020Updated: 3:05pm, 18 Jun 2020

China’s decision not to release details of how many soldiers might have been hurt or killed in a clash with Indian troops on Monday is probably motivated by a desire to play down the matter ahead of a key meeting with the United States, observers say.

While New Delhi said 20 of its soldiers were killed in the worst fighting in the region for more than four decades, Beijing has been silent on the scale of losses incurred by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Indian news reports put China’s casualties at between 35 and 43 dead and seriously injured. PLA Western Theatre Command spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Shuili said on Tuesday that the skirmish in the Galwan River valley had led to casualties on both sides, but he declined to elaborate.

China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the two countries were “committed to solving our differences through dialogue”, but also made no mention of casualty numbers.

A source close to the PLA told the South China Morning Post that Beijing was “very sensitive” about military casualties, saying all numbers had to be approved by President Xi Jinping, who heads the Central Military Commission, before being released.

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Death toll rises to 20 in border clash between India and China

Beijing was also concerned as to how the clash might be seen by Washington ahead of a key meeting between China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday in Hawaii, the person said, on condition of anonymity.

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