China deletes social media posts mocking India after backlash

A social media post linked to China's Communist Party which appeared to mock India over its coronavirus plight has been deleted after it was roundly criticised.

The post on Chinese site Weibo showed an image of a recent successful rocket launch in China, juxtaposed with a photo of funeral pyres in India cremating COVID-19 victims, the BBC reports.

Post was captioned "China lighting a fire versus India lighting a fire." The post on Saturday by the Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission on its official Sina Weibo account was accompanied by a hashtag noting that new Covid-19 cases in India had surpassed 400,000 a day.

Later that day, it could no longer be found. Many Chinese social media users expressed shock and anger at the insensitivity of the post.

Dong Mengyu, a researcher, said on Twitter one blogger wrote an article in response saying, “I apologise to Indian people on my own behalf. The post by the [Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission’s] Weibo account doesn’t represent me. We live on the same planet… We feel your sufferings.” That essay, Mr. Dong said, was later deleted.

The original post, reported Manya Koetse of What’s on Weibo, a website that tracks social media trends in China, was shared 9,000 times before it was deleted. It was not the only such post from an official organ mocking India’s situation — another Weibo account linked to the Ministry of Public Security, the top police authority, shared a similar message.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the post could not be found on Weibo. “Regarding the relevant picture mentioned in your question, we currently cannot find it on the relevant Weibo account,” it told the Hindustan Times.

The ministry added that the Chinese government was supporting India in fighting the pandemic. “What we want to emphasise is that China has been paying close attention to the development of the epidemic situation in India,” it said.

“China is doing its utmost to support India in fighting the new round of the epidemic. In the next few days, more anti-epidemic resources will continue to be sent to India to support India’s anti-epidemic efforts. Many donations and purchases in this area are carried out through unofficial channels.”it said.