The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee will honour one of the Chinese soldiers who lost his life during a faceoff with brave Indian jawans who were posted on the Indian border to repulse Chinese incursions in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. This is the first time that China is naming its Galwan war hero, though, under public pressure, it had reluctantly acknowledged the deaths of many of its soldiers in the Galwan skirmish, months later. However, China is yet to reveal the exact number of causalities on its side during the Galwan faceoff.
According to a report in a Chinese official media outlet, CPC will issue ‘July 1 Medal’ to Chen Hongjun, a PLA soldier who “held his post in the plateau for 10 years and died safeguarding China’s territorial integrity against Indian provocation in the Galwan Valley in June 2020”. Although there were more casualties, it is not clear why CPC has singled out Chen Hongjun for the honour.
Although India readily came out with the number of causalities on the Indian side, China was fighting shy of revealing causalities on its side. Indian Army sources had claimed that China suffered more causalities than India. However, taking lack of clarity on the Chinese casualties as an opportunity to mount an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, certain Opposition leaders, Left-liberals in the media and some ‘independent’ commentators and so-called defence experts had dismissed the Indian Army’s claim that PLA had also lost an equal number or more lives in the border faceoff.
Along with Chen, 28 others will also be awarded July 1 Medals for their contributions to various fields on CPC’s 100th founding anniversary this year.
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