A significant development in international politics in the last decade has been the fallout between India and China-two ancient civilisations as well as the most populous countries in the world. The relations between these countries had witnessed a relative period of stability in the three decades between 1990-2020 but a spate in Chinese incursions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) especially the Galwan Valley attack during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has led to a fundamental change in their relationship.
According to the External Affairs Minister of India, Dr S Jaishankar, the overall relationship between the two countries can’t longer be seen in separation from the situation at the border. As long as the border situation remains abnormal, even their relationship would continue to lack normalcy. This is a big shift in India’s approach towards China since the thaw in their relationship in the early 1990s. After the India-China War in 1962, a series of steps had led to delinking of their overall relationship from the disputed border issue. This had created a productive 30-years window for both countries to carry on a usual neighbourly relationship. But now, once again, the border dispute has become the principal determinant of their total diplomatic engagement.
India and China share an unsettled border issue with both countries having differing perspectives on the LAC. Agreements in the past did bring them towards the settling of the boundary question but an ultimate resolution remains elusive. China continues to deliberately keep India guessing on the fate of their border dispute even as its actions against the country have become more and more aggressive in the last few years. On one hand, it is a manifestation of China’s stupendous rise- It is now the largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. But it also reflects Beijing’s desire to keep India’s imminent rise under check. In the last ten years, India has jumped multiple positions to become the fifth-largest economy in the world at $3.75 trillion. Along with this, India is all set to become the third-largest economy in the world at market exchange rate by the turn of this decade.
China funding Indian media organisations or journalists to push a particular narrative is not alone. There have been many instances of China launching information warfare against India using social media as well. Reportedly, China runs more than 5000 bot accounts that spread fake news on social media platforms such as X (Formerly known as Twitter)
A rise in India’s economic stature doesn’t bode well for China’s ambitions. In Beijing’s world view, other countries can never be an equal partner. Its perception of the International Order is hierarchical, which means every country including India must remain subservient to China while China must enjoy the position of the Middle Kingdom or the centre of the world. Since India has categorically rejected any such Chinese designs, including the Belt and Road initiative which is its pet scheme to spread its hegemony globally, China has taken it upon itself to obstruct India’s rise. Its actions to destabilise India are not limited to the border conflict alone but it has also deployed a massive machinery to unleash information warfare against India.
In early August 2023, an investigative report in the New York Times (NYT) ended up shocking the entire country. According to this report, China was funding a host of organisations in multiple countries, including India, to spread its propaganda worldwide. The report went on to allege that an American businessman of Sri Lankan-Cuban origin Neville Roy Singham was channelling money into various news portals in India to propagate Chinese talk points in the garb of critical and neutral journalism. This allegation took many by surprise with a number of experts coming forward to highlight how NewsClick, a news portal named by NYT in its report had been towing a pro-Beijing editorial line on critical issues of India’s national interest. However, this allegation was nothing new. In the past, the Indian Government had itself cracked down on China-funded propagandistic websites by conducting raids on their premises in 2021. At that time, a section of journalists had come in their support by saying that the raids by Electorate Directorate (Ed) were an attack on its Freedom of Speech.
However, NYT’s report has once again highlighted the issue that a section of Indian media is funded by China to push its narrative in the country. It further supports ED’s investigation in India that had successfully traced the money trail between the Chinese Government and these news outlets long back in 2021 only. China funding Indian media organisations or journalists to push a particular narrative is not alone. There have been many instances of China launching information warfare against India using social media as well. Reportedly, China runs more than 5000 bot accounts that spread fake news on social media platforms such as X (Formerly known as Twitter). The Chinese accounts are infamous for impersonating popular media platforms on Twitter to push an anti-India narrative. This was visible during the Galwan Valley attack as well when Chinese bot accounts were circulating fake images of Indian soldiers on Twitter to suggest that Indian side is suffering huge damage in the standoff. This was done to demoralise the Indians and the Indian Armed forces as well. This is accompanied with active links between the Left political forces as well as the leftist journalists who are ever ready to destabilise India at the slightest hint from their masters in Beijing.
To be fair, the nexus between Indian Leftists, journalists and China’s propaganda machinery are nothing new. Since India’s Independence, China has carefully nurtured the communists in India for its benefit. This is akin to what China is doing in Nepal, another country in the Indian subcontinent. Although unlike Nepal, where the populace electorally chooses Communists, in India, they are a lost political force. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Left Front was decimated to only five seats, a historic low since 1952.
What’s more, their vote share had dwindled to just 7 per cent from 23 per cent in West Bengal, a state that once used to be their ideological turf. What the Leftists don’t have in electoral numbers, they are trying to seek through intervention from outside. Even in the NewsClick saga, many media outlets including India Today have covered their email exchanges that have been leaked. Today these linkages have become even more sinister in view of a fragile India-China relationship.
China will try its best to derail India’s growth story by sowing seeds of doubt regarding the various government initiatives. We have seen it in action when the Sterlite copper plant was closed down in Tamil Nadu. According to the submissions in the court, the protests against the plant were funded by Chinese companies
For all practical purposes, China is likely to use the unsettled Himalayan boundary to keep India unstable. Of all the great powers today, China is the only actor that doesn’t recognise India’s great power ambitions. It doesn’t support India’s permanent candidature at the UNSC nor its entry into the Nuclear Supplier Group. It is a mercantile state that has very well exploited India’s large market for a long time until 2020, when the Modi Government started levying strategic limitations on China’s entry in Indian markets. Now that India is focusing on building its economic power by focusing on the manufacturing sector and creating key infrastructure, China is likely to use propaganda machinery to stop that. Here, the allegations revealed in the NYT piece get even more important.
China will try its best to derail India’s growth story by sowing seeds of doubt regarding the various government initiatives. We have seen it in action when the Sterlite copper plant was closed down in Tamil Nadu. According to the submissions in the court, the protests against the plant were funded by Chinese companies with import interests. Now just link it back to the way a section of Indian media had lynched upon the controversy to declare Sterlite as the culprit. Unfortunately, this copper plant isn’t alone. Going forward, many initiatives will be obstructed. The only way out for the Indian state is to build a strong case against such elements. Free speech as a right should no more be allowed to be exploited by those who have sold their voice to China, an authoritarian state.
