38 soldiers killed, not 4! Oz daily stopped at college gate nails China’s Galwan lie

China’s losses in the Galwan Valley clash in 2020 were much higher than reported with many soldiers drowning while crossing a fast-flowing river in darkness, investigative Australian newspaper The Klaxon has claimed.

The Klaxon said it has been claimed that at least 38 Chinese troops (not four as claimed by China) drowned in the early stages of the June 15-16 battle while attempting to cross back over the Galwan river in the dark.

The newspaper said unnamed researchers and mainland Chinese bloggers in the report declined to be named on security grounds, but their findings appeared to “shed significant light on the saga”.

The report said India’s Colonel Santosh Babu and his troops had gone to the disputed area on June 15 to attempt to remove the Chinese encroachment, where People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Colonel Qi Fabao was present along with nearly 150 soldiers.

But Qi Fabao “ordered his troops to form a battle formation, instead of discussing the issue on the lines of mutual consent made on June 6, 2021”.

Colonel Fabao attacked the Indian troops and to allow him to escape, two other PLA officers -- battalion commander Chen Hongjun and soldier Chen Xiangrong -- started a physical scuffle with the Indian troops, using steel pipes, sticks and stones. Colonel Fabao was “hit in the head by an Indian army solider”, and “rushed back with serious injuries”, the report read.

“The PLA soldiers didn’t even have time to wear water pants. They decided to cross the icy water of the river in pitch dark under the guidance of Wang... The river rose suddenly and injured comrades kept slipping and (were) washed downstream,” the report added. (Agencies)