Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the government has repressed voices that criticize national heroes or question the official narrative about them.
In 2018, China passed a law banning people from “insulting or slandering heroes and martyrs.” Initially a civil matter, the law will become a crime through an amendment to the country’s criminal law, which will come into force next month. According to this amendment, people who “insult, slander or use other means to violate the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs and harm the public interest of society” can be imprisoned for up to three years.
The detentions underscore Beijing’s sensitivity to the border clash with India – the deadliest of its two nuclear-weapon neighbors in 40 years.
For eight months, the Chinese military has not revealed any details on the number of dead in the bloody melee conflict with Indian troops in the Galwan Valley area of the Himalayas. New Delhi has previously said that at least 20 Indian soldiers died during the fighting.
In a propaganda campaign that followed, the Chinese state media rushed to praise the five PLA soldiers for loyalty, courage and sacrifice, publishing long and emotional reports about their life stories.
State media also published the Beijing report of the event, blaming Indian troops for violating an agreement with China and crossing the border into China to set up tents. According to PLA Daily, the Chinese side was initially overtaken by Indian troops who attacked with steel tubes, sticks and stones. But as the PLA reinforcements came, they eventually “defeated” the Indian soldiers and drove them out.
The Indian military did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. Earlier, Delhi blamed Beijing for the battle.
However, not every Chinese citizen is convinced by the Beijing report of the incident.
On Friday morning, a popular blogger with 2.5 million Twitter followers, such as China’s Weibo, raised questions about the official death toll, suggesting the actual figure could be more than four. “This is why India dares to advertise the number and names of their victims, because from India’s point of view, they have won at a lower cost,” he wrote.
In the evening, police in the eastern city of Nanjing detained the blogger, identified with his last name Qiu, for “arguing and causing trouble” – a crime commonly used by the Chinese government to aimed at dissent and criticism.
Weibo said Friday night that it had closed Qiu’s account, which it used to post remarks, as well as an additional account it holds.
According to police, a total of four Weibo users were detained for their posts or for comments on other people’s posts. Two others were detained for their comments in group chats on WeChat, China’s popular messaging app, after other members of the group reported them to police. The other person was caught by the police on the internet in an “online patrol” after posting on his personal WeChat feed.