| schema:text
| - Fact Check: Old picture of Chinese aggression passed off as recent crisis in Ladakh
Amid tension between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, a picture of a group of men holding a Chinese flag and a red banner near a lake is going viral on social media with the claim that this is from Galwan Valley, one of the flashpoints.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
The viral picture is at least one year old.
Amid tension between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, a picture of a group of men holding a Chinese flag and a red banner near a lake is going viral on social media with the claim that this is from Galwan Valley, one of the flashpoints. The picture also shows a vehicle parked along the lake, in the backdrop of a mountain.
Facebook user "Moosa Manzoor" shared the viral picture along with the caption, "Chinese army displaying their flag in Galwan valley near pangwan lake Ladakh As per Indian media China pitched more than 100 tents & thousands of troops in Galwan valley..."
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim along with the picture to be misleading. The picture is at least one year old. However, there have been reports that the Chinese army erected more than 100 tents in Galwan Valley in the last two weeks, bringing in heavy equipment for construction of bunkers, despite stiff protest by Indian troops.
Several Facebook users have shared the misleading post. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA investigation
Using reverse image search, we found that the picture has been used in several news articles on Sino-Indian border tensions since 2019.
"The Statesman" used this picture in an article published on July 13, 2019. It gave credit to a Facebook user for the picture.
On July 13, 2019, website "Tibet Sun" published an article of Times News Network with the headline: "China objects Dalai Lama's birthday celebration close to border in Ladakh"
The viral picture was used in this article with the caption: A purported photo of Chinese troops in civilian clothes planting a Chinese flag on Indian territory as residents of a village in Ladakh close to the border celebrate the 84th birthday of the Dalai Lama on 6 July 2019. The banner read "Ban all activities to split Tibet", according to Indian officials in New Delhi.
It also mentions that the photograph was taken from Facebook.
According to this article, the incident took place when residents gathered near Kuyul village in Fukche area on July 6, 2019, the day the Dalai Lama turned 84, to celebrate the event.
The article quoted a local source who said, "The Chinese personnel were prepared in advance. Some of them in civilian clothes, armed with Chinese flags and banners, arrived at the spot in two jeeps and held a demonstration in protest."
As per recent news reports (https://thewire.in/external-affairs/ladakh-galwan-valley-china-troops-india), China is fast increasing troop presence in areas around Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley along LAC in Ladakh. As per media reports, the Chinese have erected tents in Galwan Valley this time and engaged in constructing bunkers.
But the viral picture with a Chinese flag and red banner claiming to be of the present border stand-off is old.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)