China’s admission: Officer, 3 troopers died in Galwan

In a uncommon acknowledgement of its troop casualties, the Chinese PLA introduced Friday that 4 of its personnel, together with a battalion commander, died in clashes with Indian troops within the Galwan Valley in Ladakh final 12 months. It additionally mentioned that one other officer, of the rank of a Colonel, was “seriously injured in the skirmish”.
This is the primary admission by China that it suffered casualties within the June 15, 2020 clashes in Galwan Valley the place 20 Indian Army personnel, together with a Colonel, misplaced their lives. The PLA made no point out of the variety of personnel injured within the clashes. It made the announcement on the eve of the tenth spherical of talks between the 2 armies.
On Twitter, Chinese handles, together with that of the editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times, put out a video clip of the Galwan Valley conflict.

The PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military, reported that 4 troopers, who died through the clashes in Galwan Valley, had been awarded honorary titles posthumously by the federal government. The report mentioned an officer too had been conferred an honorary title for his position in “defending the border”.
China’s state-run Xinhua information company, quoting the report, mentioned the “Central Military Commission issued commendations to the servicemen for their role in bravely fighting back hostilities provoked by foreign forces at the Galwan Valley”.
It mentioned the title of “border-defending hero” was conferred on Battalion Commander Chen Hongjun posthumously, whereas Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran obtained first-class benefit. “They all died in a clash with trespassing foreign military personnel wielding steel tubes, cudgels and stones last June,” it mentioned.
It mentioned Qi Fabao “who was seriously injured in the skirmish” – he was recognized by the PLA Daily because the commander of a border defence regiment — obtained the title of “hero regiment commander for defending the border”.
This was a uncommon acknowledgement as a result of China has historically not shared numbers of its battle casualties, or has taken a long time to acknowledge deaths.
Incidentally, in an interview to the CNN-News18 TV channel on Wednesday, Lt General YK Joshi, Northern Army Commander, responding to a question on the variety of Chinese casualties in Galwan Valley, mentioned: “I don’t want to make an estimate. When the incident happened, we had our OPs (observation posts)… observing the area. We were able to pick up a large number of casualties which were being picked up in stretchers and taken back. More than 60, actually, but whether they were fatal or non-fatal, we can’t say with authority. So, I will not hazard a figure on that. But you are aware that recently TASS, the Russian agency, had put out a figure of 45 and I think that could be the figure we can look at.”
On February 10, whereas reporting the beginning of the Pangong Tso disengagement, TASS, in a Beijing-datelined report, mentioned: “Chinese and Indian forces clashed in the region in May and June 2020, resulting in at least 20 Indian and 45 Chinese servicemen dead. Following these incidents, New Delhi and Beijing increased the concentration of forces in the region to about 50,000 people each.”
On Friday, Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, mentioned that “in the recent fight to safeguard China’s national territorial sovereignty and maintain peace and tranquillity of the China-India border areas, a number of heroic service members, who cherish peace, stick to their duty and defend justice, have emerged in the Chinese border defense forces… history cannot be tampered with, and heroes cannot be forgotten”.