Talking through the hat⁠ — the bizarre change in the tone of Chinese media

• Global Times, the propaganda outlet of the Chinese government, has taken a softer tone in its approach to the India-China border dispute in the last 24 hours.
• Calling out Indian publications for being biased, it highlighted at Chinese media outlets “have been very restrained.”
• Even now, it has not eased its narrative on the US being an obstacle in India-China relations.

After trying to inflame tensions between India and China after the June 15 clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley, Chinese media is softening its tone against India.

Just before the “violent clash,” one of China’s primary propaganda mouthpieces, the Global Times, was doubling down on its anti-India narrative.

However, as China’s Foreign Ministry eased its stance to push for bilateral talks to resolve the border dispute between India and China — Global Times, took the edge off its tone as well going so far as to highlight how Indian restaurants in Shanghai continue to serve customers from around the world during the lockdown.


Its handle on Twitter went from suggesting that “India was playing with fire” in challenging one-China principle to analysing that Indian cults were “breeding criminals in foreign countries” — like China.

It has not eased the narrative of the US being a potential threat to the bilateral relations between China and India. It is also called on “biased India media” to remain rational and highlight that Chinese media outlets “have been very restrained.”

It also went on to point out that India is currently involved in border disputes not just with China, but also with Nepal and Pakistan which could result in military pressures from more than one front.



Taking a u-turn on the narrative between India and China
Even after the news of the India-China clash broke, in an editorial Global Times wrote, “Arrogance and recklessness of the Indian side is the main reason for the consistent tensions along China-India borders.”

Even their opinion pieces took on a more moderate tone to say that the India-China border conflict will likely see a “soft landing” despite the violent clash. As Indians called out for a boycott of China-products, the publication highlighted that Chinese netizens were calling for restraint highlighting that bilateral trade may drop as much as 20% if the situation between the countries remains uncertain.

After heavily accusing India of underestimating China, their editorial was now calling to ease the border tensions. Meanwhile, they did not leave the opportunity to highlight that the tag of the world’s largest democracy is a “label” that western countries have given to India and is contingent on how the US views China as a threat.

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