An article captioned 'How to suppress and counter India's information war against China'  by Liu Zongyi, Secretary General, China and South Asian Studies Center, Shanghai Institute of International Studies, was posted on the guancha news portal on August 5, 2021. The article said:

"Over the years, fake news, fake media, fake websites, fake think tanks, and fake NGO anti-intelligence groups composed of anti-China forces such as the United States, Germany, and Japan have launched violent smear attacks on China. Among them, India has also played a very bad role. In December 2020, the European independent think tank "EU Disinformation Laboratory" released an investigation report called "The Indian Chronicle", exposing that since 2005, Indian intelligence agencies have made and spread worldwide to discredit Pakistan and China. The fact of false information has aroused the attention of the international community. In fact, what the EU False Information Laboratory has revealed is only part of the facts of India’s information war against China in the past 15 years. The history and scope of India’s public opinion information war on China are longer and broader than those revealed by the EU False Information Laboratory. 

1. The main trends of India's public opinion information war against China in recent years

First of all, India's information war on China began in the 1950s, when it was mainly around the border and territorial disputes between the two countries. In the controversy between the Chinese and Indian governments on the border issue, Indians used their English advantage to confuse the audience and proclaim to the international community that the Sino-Indian border was delineated in accordance with the principle of geographical watershed and "legal" international treaties.

After the Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962, in order to cover up the Nehru government’s “forward policy” towards China and erode the mistakes of Chinese territory, India fabricated the so-called Chinese treachery, launched raids without the Indian army’s preparations, and visited India. Remarks such as territories deceive their domestic people and discredit China in the international community.

For decades, the Indian education and propaganda department has been using this propaganda slogan, making the so-called China's approach to India become the "common sense" of Indians. In the past decade or so, due to increased border friction between China and India, India has stepped up its negative publicity efforts on the Sino-Indian border issue and Sino-Indian relations.

A large number of Indians emigrated overseas. After entering the 21st century, the influence of some overseas Indians in the political, economic, and academic circles of Western countries such as the United States, Britain, Australia and other Western countries has become more and more important. Mainstream opinion. These statements cater to the propositions of international anti-China forces, and are therefore recognized by mainstream societies in Western countries such as the United States and Europe.

In addition, since India was once one of the leading countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and has a greater influence in the third world, these statements from India also have a market in many third world countries. On June 15, 2020, after the Kalewan conflict occurred, reports and commentaries in the English-language media of the international community almost blamed China, believing that China deliberately provoked the conflict and launched a raid on the Indian army, and India was Kalewan. Victims of bloody conflict.

Second, after entering the 21st century, India’s smearing of China has expanded from bilateral areas such as border issues to multilateral areas involving third parties. India’s strategic circles have a very strong concept of sphere of influence and geopolitical awareness. As China’s economic cooperation with South Asian and Indian Ocean countries increases, India believes that China is infringing on its sphere of influence, and that China will unite with other South Asian and Indian Ocean countries to encircle India and squeeze Its living space. Therefore, the Indian side desperately provokes relations between China and South Asian countries.

First, on the border issue, India not only promotes China's pro-invasion of Indian territory at home and abroad, but also creates rumors that China is invading the territories of Bhutan, Nepal and other countries.

Second, on the economic cooperation between China and South Asian countries, the “Belt and Road”, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and other issues, India continues to create rumors that China’s aid to South Asia and Indian Ocean countries’ infrastructure construction projects are opaque, destroy the environment, and cause ecological crises.

The so-called "Belt and Road" initiative of China is a "debt trap" for developing countries, and rumors such as a "debt crisis" for South Asian and Indian Ocean countries originated in India. They were fabricated by Brahma Chellani of the Indian Policy Research Center. This person is also an active advocate of rumors that China wants to use the water resources of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a weapon to threaten the lower reaches of South Asia.

India’s slander and negative propaganda of the “Belt and Road” and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects have caused a great deal of misleading to the people of South Asian countries. At the same time, it has provided evidence and support for Western countries, led by the United States, to oppose and resist the “Belt and Road”.

Third, in recent years, India has not only desperately instigated relations between China and South Asian countries, but also created rumors to instigate relations between China and the world, creating tensions and conflicts. The most obvious example is about the origin of the new coronavirus. The Indian media trumpeted that the new crown virus was a leak of Chinese biological weapons. The International Council of Jurists (ICJ) and All India Bar Association (All India Bar Association) submitted a petition to the UN Human Rights Council stating that the new crown virus was developed by the Wuhan Virology Laboratory and requested the Chinese government to make 20 Billion dollars in compensation. On the two issues of the so-called biological weapons leakage and the "China Compensation Theory," Indian scholars, media, and legal groups are almost the earliest proponents.

Once again, India’s slander and slander of China in the past year show that India’s attacks on China have risen from bilateral and multilateral specific issues to the height of political system and ideological struggle. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Wuhan, India’s initial response was to gloat and watch the fire from the shore. The Indian media criticized the outbreak of the Wuhan epidemic, accusing the so-called China’s rigid bureaucracy for obstructing the information transmission channel to a certain extent; criticizing the Chinese health department Fragmentation of power has seriously affected the response to the epidemic, and believes that China’s public health departments, disease prevention and control departments, hospital management departments, and drug regulatory departments lack coordination with each other.

Several former ambassadors to China such as Shyam Saran, Vijay Gokhale, Gautam Bambawale, these so-called "China Experts" have also published articles in Indian or Western media, attacking China's political system, claiming that China's system is not transparent and free of speech has led to the spread of the virus, and praised Taiwan’s anti-epidemic model promotes the so-called "democratic anti-epidemic theory."

At the same time, the Indian government hopes to take this opportunity to lobby multinational companies in China to transfer their production chains to India.

When China completely controlled the epidemic, and after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Europe, the United States and India itself, countries such as the United States, India and other countries attempted to pass on contradictions due to ineffective anti-epidemic measures, divert the attention of domestic people, and even hope to contain China. By the second half of 2020, after the Calwan conflict, when the advantages shown by China’s political system and economic and social governance model have completely crushed India and Western countries, the Indian ruling class will feel that their own political system and governance model have been affected. Threats, India’s slander and attack on China have risen to an ideological level, and at the same time it has continuously instigated the contradictions between China and the United States, hoping that China and the United States will fall into a cold war or even a hot war. India has further strengthened strategic coordination with the United States, Japan, Australia and other countries, and actively discussed the establishment of a global value chain and industrial chain that excludes China and replaces China.

India believes that its position in the global strategic landscape is similar to that of China in the 1970s, while China is now the Soviet Union. India wants to ally with the United States to contain China and obtain economic and technical assistance from the United States, Europe and other countries in the process. Develop manufacturing in India to achieve the rise of a great power.

2. The main institutions, channels and methods of India’s information war against China

In fact, India has long positioned China as its biggest threat and adversary. Therefore, India’s information war against China is a model of government and society participation. Participants include not only government departments and their affiliates, but also political parties, social groups, and think tanks. , The media, and even scholars and individuals.

The Indian government has played a leading role in the information war against China. First, although India is nominally a so-called democratic country with free speech, the Indian government has the greatest say in diplomatic issues. The Prime Minister is responsible for India’s foreign affairs. The National Security Council headed by the Prime Minister is the most important institution for national security and foreign affairs in India. Its regular members include the Ministers of the Interior, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Finance, National Security Advisors, and the Vice Chairman of the Indian Transformation Council. There are officials from relevant departments who are temporarily invited as needed. The military cannot exert significant influence in Indian diplomacy, but in order to highlight its position and obtain more financial allocations, the military often creates some topics. At the same time, because the border police force is in charge of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Interior also has a certain say in border affairs.

After 1962, various departments of the Indian government viewed China from the perspective of treating China as an enemy and adversary. This view has been strengthened in recent years as the competition between China and India has intensified. Moreover, due to the long-term lack of effective communication and communication between the two countries, and the fact that India has too few experts proficient in Chinese history, culture, and language, Indian researchers mainly rely on information from Western countries and media reports to study China, which has caused the Indian society to have a greater impact on China. Many misunderstandings and suspicions eventually misled the government's decision-making on China. If things go on like this, India has formed a set of basically fixed opinions and slander and slander on China-India relations, the Sino-Indian border dispute, and China's status and role in the international community.

Therefore, when the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of National Defense and other ministries and commissions release information about China, many of them are false and false. There are also examples of Indian national leaders who personally went to battle to spread false information. When Indian Prime Minister Narayanan visited China in 2000, he publicly stated that Indian Prime Minister Nehru had rejected the US government’s proposal to transfer China’s seat on the Security Council to India. This statement was widely spread among Chinese scholars and became an example of the so-called Sino-Indian friendship. However, this claim was originally speculated by a diplomat of the Taiwan authorities in his memoirs, and there is no evidence.

Second, Indian political parties also play an important role in creating and disseminating false information about China. Especially after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Volunteers Group produced false information about China gradually emerged. In order to promote Hindu nationalism, these political parties or social groups promote the superiority of the Indian political system and governance model, or agitate Hindu nationalism, draw votes, and create false information about countries such as China and Pakistan.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Volunteer Corps are very well-organized political parties or groups, and their grassroots organizations have done very solid work, and they have penetrated into civil society and society. Within its organization, it attaches great importance to publicity, and there is a dedicated person responsible for the publicity work. Prime Minister Modi is a publicity officer of the Indian National Volunteer Corps. Thousands of Indian media have very complicated backgrounds such as consortia and social groups, and they often attack China out of self-interest. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Volunteer Service Corps have their own media, websites, radio and television stations. Many negative false information about China and Pakistan in recent years have come from the media affiliated to the Indian Party and the National Volunteer Service Corps of India.

Once again, the Indian military and the Ministry of the Interior cannot shirk the blame for the release of false information about China. The Indian military and the Ministry of the Interior mainly publish false information related to the Sino-Indian border, the main purpose of which is to obtain more financial allocations. In February 2014, Indian media reported that three of the six major military regions in India had set up "China Research Groups." They received only one task, which was to closely follow every action of China and write daily reports.

This report quoted sources as saying that these teams not only monitor China's military capabilities, but also include other important areas such as international relations strategies, soft power initiatives, and economic reforms. "In India, China is portrayed as the main enemy to justify the high defence budget." Since the border between the two countries has not been formally demarcated, it is often the case that the soldiers of the two countries cross the line of actual control. This situation can only be grasped by the frontline military and police. There is no media stationed in the front-line areas, and the Indian media must have deliberately disclosed this information by the Indian army or border police. The Indian government and the ruling party often use the Sino-Indian border friction to divert internal conflicts. In this process, the media hopes to attract attention and gain traffic by creating explosive news. India's Bollywood is also involved and recently filmed a film that distorts the Kalwan conflict.

In addition, the Indian intelligence service is the main trader in disseminating false information to the outside world. This is mainly reflected in two aspects: First, the Western media reported in December 2020. Like the "India Chronicle" published by the "European Disinformation Laboratory" listed a large number of information about Indian intelligence agencies, organized and premeditated online On the Internet, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other international social platforms with a large number of users, large-scale manufacturing of false information involving China and Pakistan floods the Internet. The Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (RAW) of the Indian Intelligence Agency (RAW) has set up a special agency to disrupt the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Under the leadership of the Delhi-based Srivastava Group, this disinformation network is based in Brussels, Belgium and Geneva, Switzerland, remotely controlling 750 fake media, counterfeit think tanks and fake NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in 116 countries and regions in the world. Organize) to use the mainstream Indian news agency "Asia International News Agency" (ANI) to whiten false information and lies, and to amplify its influence. After similar information was produced, Indian intelligence agencies used hundreds of copies of the same content to abuse search engines to enhance its dissemination effect.

The second is that Indian intelligence agencies use the political power of a third country to create rumors. India has inextricably linked connections in some small South Asian countries. For example, in Nepal, at the end of 2020, some leaders of Nepal’s opposition Congress party used to make speeches claiming that China infringed on Nepal’s territory; in the Maldives, it induced and agitated the former Maldives President Nasheed, etc. Some forces spread rumors that China supports some infrastructure projects built by the Yamin government in Maldives to damage the environment, attacking China’s “land grabbing” in Malaysia, causing a debt crisis in Maldives; this is also the case in Sri Lanka; in Myanmar, they join the West in accusing China’s Kyaukphyu The Hong Kong construction project has caused unsustainable debt to Myanmar, which echoes with the opposition in Myanmar.

Finally, Indians at home and abroad have taken the initiative, or are driven by relevant Indian authorities, and have also been involved in the process of creating and disseminating false information about China. Demonizing and discrediting China has almost become the instinct of Indians. Srikanth Kondapalli, a well-known India-China expert, often speaks good things about China in China, but will try his best to discredit China in India and internationally. The author personally heard Xie Gang at an international academic conference in Germany in January 2020, citing some so-called evidence on the Internet to slander China and prove that the Chinese government supports Pakistan’s terrorism. Raja Mohan is one of India's most famous scholars in the world and one of the spokespersons of India's diplomacy. He often publishes articles that distort China's diplomatic strategy and advocate that the United States and the West should engage in ideological competition with China. Raja Mohan has a very close relationship with Ashley Thales, a famous American Indian scholar, and interacts frequently.

India’s act of creating false information to smear China is basically not a threat to China, but it has caused serious damage to China's international image. The main reason India creates false information about China, to discredit China, is that it defines China as its main enemy and competitor. If India cannot change this perception, China will face India's slander and discredit for a long time. In the face of false information created by India, China must resolutely fight back.

(1) Solve the problem through bilateral and multilateral diplomatic channels: first, China should release evidence to the international community on the premise of having definite evidence; second, lodge a diplomatic protest with the Indian government; finally, expose to the international community that India slanders and smears China Ugly behavior. China can convene a meeting in the United Nations Security Council to criticize India and other countries for slandering and smearing it, causing a sensation and making the international community aware of the falseness of information disseminated by India and Western media.

(2) China's propaganda department should do a good job in external propaganda work, and carry out propaganda in a language that the international community understands and in a way that is easy to accept. External propaganda cannot take the form of internal propaganda, and it is not a matter for the propaganda department at the same time. Our country's external propaganda, especially the news media of friendly countries, should be approachable, and the work should also be meticulous, not formal. Some Chinese embassies abroad complain that domestic propaganda departments send tons of useless Chinese propaganda materials to the embassies; another example is that a friendly country complains that their news delegation visits China, and the Chinese embassy has a lot of arbitrariness in selecting candidates. Rather than selecting truly influential people to join the group. After the delegation arrived in China, even the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not able to see it. They can only have discussions with think tanks, and then travel and shopping.

(3) After major incidents, we should release information in a timely manner to avoid being passive. After the Galwan incident, my country took the face of India into consideration, and some information was not announced, which left the Indian side with an opportunity to create false information.

(4) Chinese scholars should be strongly encouraged to speak internationally. At present, many Chinese scholars have the ability to write English articles, expounding our views and propositions on issues related to our national interests, and our government should encourage them. Many scholars are now immersed in pure academic research, or specialized in writing papers, rather than writing media articles. Therefore, the academic evaluation standards should be revised, and media commentary articles should be used as one of the evaluation standards. Encourage scholars to write reviews, especially those in foreign languages, and disseminate them in overseas media for the sake of seeing and hearing them."

(Comment: The Guancha news portal is maintained by the CCP CC Propaganda Department.)