‘India’s Rama takes on China’s dragon’: HK, Taiwan netizens support India
Camaraderie grew for India as citizens of countries clashing with China speak out
Camaraderie grew for India as citizens of countries clashing with China speak out
Camaraderie grew for India as citizens of countries clashing with China speak out
Camaraderie grew for India as citizens of countries clashing with China speak out
As the news grows steadily more grim along the Indian and Chinese border in Eastern Ladakh, with over 20 Indian soldiers killed a skirmish with Chinese forces leading to national outrage, netizens from Taiwan and Hong Kong have shared images in India’s support.
An illustration went viral on Hong Kong social media platform lihkg, which showed Rama aiming an arrow at a Chinese dragon besides the words, “We conquer, we kill”. The image was picked up by the Taiwan News website, which made it their ‘Photo of the day’. Following this, it viral on Indian Twitter, making #Taiwan one of the top-trending hashtags briefly.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Taiwan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Taiwan</a> 🙏🏼 <a href="https://t.co/Up6iHSW5nG">pic.twitter.com/Up6iHSW5nG</a></p>— Naren Menon (@NarenMenon1) <a href="https://twitter.com/NarenMenon1/status/1273232348562067461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Thank you, Taiwan” tweeted one Twitter user, who was then retweeted thousands of times.
A post with the image was one of the top threads on lihkg, with several users sharing pro-India images. Some pointed out India’s historic role as part of the military police in Hong Kong during the British-ruled period of the island, as well as how the Indian Army defended Hong Kong against the Japanese during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941.
Many Taiwanese citizens and Hong Kongers alike took to social media to express their support for India in the clash with China.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If this tiny island can speak for us, Why cnt a country of 1.3billion, worlds 4th strongest army, 3rd largest economy, speak up for them! Time to junk one China policy!</p>— Arjun Patel (@arjunnpatel) <a href="https://twitter.com/arjunnpatel/status/1273247486887333894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The internet support comes as tensions between Taiwan and China have been growing, with Chinese warplanes flying inside Taiwanese airspace for the 4th time in two weeks on Wednesday. The war of words between Taiwan and China has intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic, as Taiwan leads calls for WHO reform and greater accountability of China in spreading the virus across the world.
Several Indians reportedly participated in a motor rally in Taipei on June 13 to thank the country for its successful contamination of the coronavirus.
Hong Kong too has seen its issues with China flare up of late, as protests that raged through 2019 gradually resumed after a brief lull during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in the city. A new bill by Chinese lawmakers that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem had sparked a new wave of protests, as had a controversial new national security bill.
While 2019’s protests were initially sparked over a bill that would allow for Hong Kongers to be extradited to China to face much-harsher prosecution in certain instances, they later snowballed into a larger pro-democracy movement, in response to accusations of police brutality against the Hong Kong police.
While the extradition bill was eventually shelved, the new national security bill could end up having the same effect, as a Hong Kong lawmaker recently pointed out that it too could be used to extradite Hong Kongers to China to face punishment.