Chinese media ignores incursion issue

The issue of incursion by Chinese troops into Depsang valley in Ladakh may have dominated news headlines in India over the past several days but it has not found much space in the media here.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to Beijing on May 9, which was announced by China yesterday, found a small mention in today's edition of the state-run China Daily.
The news item titled, "Indian foreign minister to visit" appeared in the 'briefly' column in one of the inside pages of the paper.
The news item read, "Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid will make an official visit to China from May 9 to 10 as a guest of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday".

The Chinese government has been asserting that its troops have not violated Line of Actual Control (LAC) in erecting their tents at Daulat Beg Oldi sector.
Chinese leaders will meet Khurshid, and Wang will hold talks with his Indian counterpart, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

There was no mention of the purpose of Khurshid's visit nor was anything written about the dispute over the presence of PLA troops in Depseng valley in Ladakh.
Today's weekend edition of the state-run Global Times did not carry any news about the Indian Minister's visit.
When asked how China Radio International (CRI) was reporting about the incursion issue, its South Asia Centre Director Lou Hongbing evaded a direct reply and said that though there should not be any obstacle in terms of news, there will be no room for positive things if the negative aspect is reported.

"Objectivity and fairness are what we perceive in our reports. Both in India and China, there is information explosion. So there is every possibility of false, fake or negative news in the light of fierce competition. To promote friendship, we need to do something. There should not be any confusion among readers, listeners and viewers," Lou told a group of visiting foreign journalists here.
"A good neighbour is much better than a decent relative. Our effort is to promote friendship between the two countries," he said, adding Chinese reports are mainly derived from news appearing in Indian and Western media.

When asked about how he perceived Sino-India relations, particularly in the aftermath of the incursion issue, a senior journalist of CRI told PTI, "We haven't had many reports about it in Chinese media. Whatever I have learnt is from the Indian media. Our governments are working together in taking bilateral relations forward".