China planned Galwan clash, including 'possibility for fatalities': US panel report

The Chinese government had planned the Galwan valley clash with India, which resulted in death of 20 Indian soldiers, a top US government commission has claimed in a report. "Some evidence suggested the Chinese government had planned the incident, potentially including the possibility for fatalities," the congressional commission of the US government said.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has told the US Congress that several weeks prior to the clash, Chinese Defence Minister Wei made his statement encouraging China to "use fighting to promote stability". Additionally, the report also cited an editorial of China's state-owned tabloid Global Times, in which Beijing warned that India would suffer a "devastating blow" to its trade and economic ties with China if it got "involved in the US-China rivalry." The editorial was published exactly two weeks before the Galwan clash.

The report further claimed that satellite images depicted a large Chinese build-up in the Galwan Valley, including potentially 1,000 PLA soldiers, the week before the deadly skirmish. It further pointed out that China had made a new claim of having sovereignty over the entire Galwan Valley, post the June 15 clash, which marked a significant change to the territorial status quo.

According to the congressional commission, the proximate cause of the Galwan clash appeared to be India's construction of a strategic access road to support troops stationed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

In June, Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in a deadly clash, the first confrontation since 1975 that resulted in the loss of life of 20 Indian soldiers.

Shortly after the skirmish, India banned 59 apps developed by Chinese firms, including TikTok, a major Chinese video-sharing app that counted India as its largest overseas market. In September, India banned 118 additional Chinese apps, arguing they were "hostile to national security". And, last month the government banned another 43 Chinese apps.

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