by Bibekananda Modak

A Chinese soldier was suspected of being killed in the line of duty in the Sino-Indian border region in November last year. His ashes were buried in Taojiang, Hunan last week. Hong Kong media "Sing Tao Daily" reported that this may indicate that the Chinese and Indian armed forces still have sporadic conflicts on the border.

As the official introduced that the soldier Wen Tao was "gloriously sacrificed in the execution of the mission," the elegiac couplet at the burial ceremony was written with words such as "blood on the plateau" and "not letting an inch of land". Some netizens who claimed to be Wen Tao's former comrades said, Wen Tao He experienced a "bad battle" on the border defence line in the snow and defended the border defence "with his own life and blood." Outsiders speculated that he might have died in the conflict between China and India.

The bloody clash between Chinese and Indian troops in the Galwan Valley last June resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers. After this, the Chinese side did not announce whether other Chinese soldiers died in the conflict in the border area.

"Sing Tao Daily" once called Taojiang County Government, Daligang Town Government and the town's service station for veterans to learn about the details of Wen Tao's death, but could not get in touch.

According to the WeChat public account of the "Taojiang Broadcasting and Television Station" of Hunan, the burial ceremony of the ashes of Wen Tao, who was suspected of being killed in service, was held at the Taojiang Martyrs Cemetery last Friday (December 3). Bian Qingjun, director of the political work department of the army where Wen Tao was alive, was at the ceremony. At the meeting, the martyrs' approval documents and Wen Tao's deeds were read out. Public information shows that Bian Qingjun is the director of the political work department of a brigade of the 76th Army.

According to reports, Wen Tao died gloriously on November 15, 2020. He was 33 years old at the age of 33. In December of the same year, he was awarded the title of Revolutionary Martyr by the army where he was alive.

The photo shows that the elegiac couplet at the ceremony site reads "Loyal to the soul and blood sprinkling on the plateau; no land is allowed, and the martyrs; fame goes down in history."

A netizen who claimed to be a retired veteran later wrote on the Zhihu platform to mourn Wen Tao: "I cannot know what happened to you and your comrades on the border line of wind and snow on November 15 last year. A fierce battle. But I know that when the motherland gave the order, you and your comrades rushed up without hesitation and used your life and blood to defend the border defence of the motherland."

Another netizen "Jinmen Li Ge" said on Weibo that Wen Tao is the fourth-level sergeant chief of the Sirius Special Forces. Public information shows that the Sirius Commando is an anti-terrorist special forces unit in Northwest China, which is affiliated with the Western Theatre.

In October this year, the WeChat public account "Mianyidao", which has a background in Chinese state media, released photos when reporting on Sino-Indian border issues and military commander-level talks between the two sides. It showed that a synthetic brigade of the 76 Group Army was in the hinterland of Kunlun Mountain at an altitude of more than 3,600 meters in early September. Conduct live-fire drills to test the actual combat capabilities of the troops.

Author's Note: I acknowledge my debt to Mr Song Hong who used Google translate to render the above news from the following sources : 1, 2 & 3