Image copyright Xinhua Image caption The video features a Chinese actor in costume mimicking an Indian accent

Chinese state media have released a propaganda video that lambasts India over a border dispute, sparking accusations of racism.

The English-language clip, accusing India of committing "sins", features a Chinese actor in a Sikh turban, speaking in a mock Indian accent.

Xinhua published the clip on Wednesday from a chat show discussing a border stand-off between the two countries.

It has been met with both bewilderment and anger in India, and amongst Sikhs.

What happens in the clip?

Titled "7 Sins of India", the video stars female presenter, Dier Wang, who lists out China's grievances against India in the ongoing border dispute in the Doklam area, which borders China, India and Bhutan.

It is the latest episode of an online series called The Spark, an English-language online chat show recently launched by Xinhua.

Speaking in an amused yet indignant tone, she accuses India of "trampling international law" and "inventing various excuses to whitewash its illegal moves".

Image copyright Xinhua Image caption Ms Wang uses casual language in the clip

Her monologue is interspersed with dialogue from an "Indian", depicted by a Chinese actor wearing a turban, sunglasses, and an obviously ill-fitting beard.

In what appear to be attempts at humour, he waggles his head and speaks English in an exaggerated Indian accent, amid canned laughter.

In another scene he points a pair of scissors at another actor who is supposed to represent Bhutan - a clear reference to the Chinese view that India is "bullying" the tiny Himalayan nation.

Image copyright Xinhua Image caption The actor representing Bhutan was not in costume

The video appears to be solely targeted at a foreign audience. It is delivered entirely in English and appears on Xinhua's YouTube, Twitter and Facebook feeds - services which are banned in China.

Chinese reports say the online chat show aims to "comment on hot domestic and international topics from China's perspective and with an international vision".

Previous episodes have also focused on the stand-off and Sino-Indian relations, as well as relations with the US and President Donald Trump, but were more sober than this one.

What has been the reaction?

Indian news outlets have rounded on the video, slamming it as racist.

The Hindustan Times said Xinhua released "a racist video parodying Indians" which "particularly targets the Sikh minority".

News portal The Quint said it was "yet another attempt by Chinese media to push its aggressive rhetoric on the stand-off", while India Today accused Chinese media of going a "step further" in mocking India.

The UK-based Sikh Press Association said it was "sad to see just how low Chinese media have stooped in using Sikh identity as a pawn in their state propaganda against India," pointing out that Sikhs make up less than 2% of India's population.

The video also prompted criticism from social media users.

But it has also generated some debate on the Doklam stand-off, with many on Facebook arguing about which country has sovereignty over the disputed territory.

How did all this begin?

The conflict began in mid-June when India opposed China's attempt to extend a border road through a plateau known as Doklam in India and Donglang in China.

The plateau, which lies at a junction between China, the north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim and the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, is currently disputed between Beijing and Bhutan. India supports Bhutan's claim over it.

India and China fought a war over the border in 1962, and disputes remain unresolved in several areas, causing tensions to rise from time to time.

Each side has reinforced its troops and called on the other to back down.

On Wednesday, Indian officials said another border confrontation had flared up, this time in the Western Himalayas.</s>Keeping up with its rhetoric against India with regard to the standoff in Sikkim, China's Xinhua news agency has released a video on Twitter mocking India for its position on the border standoff. The video also has undertones of racism in the way it depicts an Indian.

Chinese media organisations have been consistently accusing the Narendra Modi government and its military of intruding into Chinese territory. Now, it has taken its political rhetoric a step further by mocking India in a video posted on Twitter.

Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese government's most important news agency controlled by the country's Cabinet, has released a three-and-a-half-minute video to explain the "seven sins" of India committed while "illegally trespassing" into Doklam. The video comes a day after troops of both the countries were involved in a brief altercation in Ladakh.

The video shows a woman explaining the "seven sins" committed by India in English while cutting in between to a turban-wearing character representing India. Besides wearing a turban, the character is also seen sporting a false beard and attempting to speak English in the way Indians are perceived to speak the language.

So, what are the "seven sins" of India?

According to Xinhua, the seven sins committed by India include trespassing, violating a bilateral convention, "trampling" international law, confusing right and wrong, putting the blame on the victim, hijacking a small neighbour and sticking to a mistake "KNOWINGLY".

In the video, the host says: "When the whole world is trying to wake India up from its impulse, China's realised it's impossible to awaken a guy who's pretending to be asleep." The video then cuts to the "Indian", who, in an unconvincing Indian accent, says: "Nobody's blaming me becasue I'm asleep."

Notice how the simple word "because" has been misspelt in the subtitles in this section of the video? Well, maybe it's just a mistake on the part of the editing staff.

The host goes on to say that Indian troops intruded into "UNDISPUTED" Chinese territory "carrying weapons and driving bulldozers... straight into your house without even knocking at the door." "What kind of neighbour would that be?" she asks.

In another sequence, she talks about how Doklam belongs to China under the 1890 Convention between Great Britain and China. The host, then, mocks India saying: "Didn't your mama tell you, never break the law?"

Under the "sins" of confusing right and wrong and putting the blame on the victim, the host rubbishes the security concerns put forward by India saying that there was no danger and that the concerns raised by the country are just an excuse.

"He is building a path in his garden. I am in danger," the "Indian" in the video says in a weird Indian accent.

In the sequence that talks about India hijacking a small neighbour, the "Indian" is seen talking to a rather confused "Bhutanese" national.

"Don't move, this is Bhutan's home. I am here protecting it," the "Indian" says while the "Bhutanese" national is made to look confused and perplexed as he denies the statement seemingly under the threat of a pair of scissors that the turban-wearing character is seen pointing at him.

The video claims that "Bhutanese authorities have clearly told Chinese officials that Doklam is not Bhutan's territory" and that Bhutan is itself "confused by India's behaviour." It also reiterates China's demand that India withdraws its troops for peace talks to take place.

The standoff at Doklam, which is under Beijing's control but is claimed by Thimphu, began on June 16 after Indian troops acted in coordination with Bhutanese authorities to block the construction of a road by Chinese forces.

At the end of the video, the host reveals why China would not negotiate with "thick-skinned" India. "Have you ever negotiated with a robber who had just broken into your house and refused to leave? You call 911 or just fight him back right?" the woman says.

The video then cuts to the "Indian" who asks in a mocking manner: "Why call 911? Don't you wanna play house bro?" In an indication to India to withdraw its troops from Doklam, the host concludes saying: "If you really wanna play, get out of my house first."

India and China have been locked in a border standoff in Sikkim for about two months now. It began on June 16 after China accused Indian troops of entering Doklam and stopping Chinese troops from constructing a road in the area. However, India responded by saying the border dispute is yet to be resolved and that China should "desist from changing the status quo".

India also accused China of building roads on the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction and its People's Liberation Army (PLA) of intruding into Indian territory through Sikkim and destroying bunkers, while China has claimed India is provoking them and the issue can be resolved only if India withdraws its troops.

India fears that the road-building activity would allow Chinese troops to cut its access to the seven states in the Northeast.</s>Amidst a raging tension between India and China over Doklam Standoff, a Chinese news agency, Xinhua, has mocked India in a spoof video.

Titled as "7 Sins of India. It’s time for India to confess its SEVEN SINS" the video accuses India of trespassing, violation bilateral convention, trampling international law.

The anchor Dier Wang says," Didn't your mama tell you never break the law?" Wang also says that India is pretending to be asleep.

"When the whole world is trying to wake India up from its impulse, China has realized it's impossible to awaken a guy who's pretending to be asleep."

In the video, a man appears with a stick-on beard apparently representing a Sikh.

"Do you negotiate with a robber who had just broken into your house... You just call 911 or just fight him back, right?" says Ms Wang. 911 is the number used in the US for emergency hotline.

The actor answers "Why call 911 - don't you wanna play house, bro?" The total duration of the video is three minutes and has been posted through Xinhua's English-language account on Twitter.

The total duration of the video is three minutes and has been posted through Xinhua's English-language account on Twitter.

Here is the video:

India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for nearly eight weeks after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area.

China claimed it was constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau. Bhutan says Doklam belongs to it but China claims it to be its territory.

China has been ramping up rhetoric against India over the last few weeks demanding the immediate withdrawal of Indian troops from Doklam. The Chinese state media, particularly, have carried a barrage of critical articles on the Doklam stand- off slamming India.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had recently said both sides should first pull back their troops for any talks to take place, favoring a peaceful resolution of the border standoff.

India also conveyed to the Chinese government that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for it.</s>China on Friday told Japan not to make “random” comments on the Sino-Indian border stand-off even if it wants to support New Delhi.

Japan has rallied behind India over the dragging feud at Doklam, with its envoy Kenji Hiramatsu saying that the region is disputed and Tokyo understands why New Delhi got embroiled in it.

“I have seen the Japanese Ambassador in India really wants to support India. I want to remind him not to randomly make comments before clarifying relevant facts,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. She rebutted Hiramatsu who said that Doklam, on the Sikkim section of the India-China border, was disputed and no country should change the status quo by using force.

“In the Donglang (Doklam) area, there is no territorial dispute. And the boundary has been delimited and recognized by the two sides,” Hua said. “And the attempt to change the status quo by trespass in the boundary is by India, not China.”

Japan is the first country to openly speak on the crisis and back India. Hua again asked India to immediately withdraw troops from Doklam, where both sides have been engaged in a stand-off since June.

She said India’s unconditional pullback will be the basis for any meaningful dialogue to resolve the crisis, which has plunged ties between two countries to a new low. Doklam is disputed by Bhutan and China. India says the area belongs to Bhutan and Chinese soldiers entered the area, affecting New Delhi’s strategic interests.</s>New Delhi: As the India-China military standoff on the Doklam plateau in Bhutan enters its third month, China’s official Xinhua news agency has released a video that mocks and parodies Indians in what is the latest attack against India by the Chinese state media.

The video, which is in English and is a little more than three minutes long, is titled the “7 Sins of India: It’s time for India to confess its seven sins”.

It features a Chinese woman anchor who explains the Doklam standoff from the Chinese perspective and a man with a turban and a fake beard—an apparent attempt at parodying an Indian Sikh and mimicking the way Indians are perceived to speak English.

According to the clip, India’s seven “biblical” sins are: trespassing, violating a bilateral convention, trampling international law, confusing right and wrong, putting the blame on the victim, hijacking a small neighbour and sticking to a mistake knowingly.

“China has realised it is impossible to awaken a guy who is pretending to be asleep,” the Chinese anchor hosting the video says.

This is followed by the first appearance of the “Indian turbaned Sikh” who says, “Nobody is blaming me because I am asleep”—an allusion perhaps to the Chinese perception that in reality, India is being blamed for the standoff but refuses to acknowledge it.

Also read: The logic of India’s response to China

India’s position that it is the Chinese side which trespassed into Bhutan is mocked by the anchor, who accuses India of entering “undisputed Chinese territory” with bulldozers.

The anchor then questions the alleged move by Indian troops of driving bulldozers into a neighbour’s (China’s) “house” without knocking. “What kind of neighbour would that be?” she asks. “Didn’t your mama tell you, never break the law?” she adds.

The Indian government’s contention that the Chinese entering Bhutanese territory with earthmoving equipment for the construction on a road close to India’s sensitive northeast had security implications for India is also ridiculed. “He is building a path in his garden. I am in danger,” says the “Indian” in the video shaking in apparent fear—in what seems to be Xinhua’s way of dismissing India’s concerns.

On India’s contention that it is protecting Bhutan’s territory, the Xinhua video features the “Indian Sikh” in the same frame as an alleged “Bhutanese” national.

“Don’t move, this is Bhutan’s home. I am here protecting it,” the “Indian” says, while the “Bhutanese” looks perplexed and shakes his head in denial when the anchor asks whether the territory India is stating to be Bhutanese is his home. “No not my home,” says the “Bhutanese” as the “Indian” is shown brandishing a pair of scissors, possibly as a threat to the “Bhutanese”.

When the anchor asks whether Bhutan had sought India’s help to protect Doklam, the “Bhutanese” national does not answer but looks decidedly wary as the “Indian” points the scissors at him in a seemingly threatening gesture. The implication is clear—that the “Bhutanese” national is keeping quiet under pressure from the “Indian”.

The military standoff at Doklam began on 16 June after Indian troops acted in coordination with Bhutanese authorities to block the construction of a road by Chinese authorities.

In the two months since then, Chinese state-controlled media has put out countless articles criticizing and dismissing India’s arguments. Many of them have also sought to remind India of the brief but bitter 1962 war between India and China that went badly for India.</s>China’s official news agency, Xinhua, released a racist video accusing India of committing “seven sins” during the two-month-long Doklam standoff near Sikkim on Wednesday. A man in a fake beard and a turban poses as an Indian as the host Dier Wang chides India for its many sins in the three-minute video.

The video accused India of trespassing into Chinese territory, violating conventions, not knowing what is right and what is wrong and hijacking Bhutan, all to a recorded soundtrack of laughter.

India and China are currently locked in a diplomatic standoff. Both nations have maintained that troops from the other country had transgressed into their territory in the Sikkim sector’s Doklam area.

Bilateral ties have been strained since the Indian Army stopped China from constructing a road in the region. New Delhi has made it clear that it will not allow China to construct a motorable road up to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction through the Doklam plateau.</s>New Delhi: In a major development, Japan has decided to support India and Bhutan in the ongoing India-China border standoff at Doklam in Sikkim. There should be no attempt to change the status quo on the ground by force, said Japanese ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu.

The statement of support comes a month ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India from September 13 to 15.

Hiramatsu's is also accredited as Ambassador to Bhutan.

Japan's statements comes two months after the Indian Army stopped the China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) from constructing a road through Dokam.

Japan, which has had similar territorial disputes with China, feels that the ongoing stand-off can affect the stability of the entire region.</s>BEIJING: As the standoff in Doklam entered the third month, China on Wednesday renewed its call for India to withdraw troops from the area.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said withdrawal of troops by India was a precondition for any dialogue between both sides.India is for simultaneous withdrawal of troops from Doklam in Sikkim sector - which is at the tri-junction of India-China-Bhutan.The crisis began on June 16 when the Indian Army prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam.India says the area belongs to close neighbour Bhutan , but Beijing says the area belongs to it and has asked India to stay out of its boundary dispute with Bhutan.</s>NEW DELHI: A key goal for China amid the ongoing Dokalam standoff has been to create a wedge between India and Bhutan , specifically in the area of defence partnership, as New Delhi and Thimphu enjoy a special security partnership under their 1949 and 2007 bilateral friendship treaties.China, through its belligerent posture, appears to be objecting to the right of India to have a security agreement with Bhutan, which is akin to objecting to the existence of NATO or the Collective Security Treaty Organisation among some of the post-Soviet states led by Russia In fact, Beijing itself has an arrangement with North Korea . China is trying to project the Indo-Bhutanese partnership as a hegemonic exercise by India on a weaker neighbour, a strategy that is aimed at claiming the territory in Doklam and establishing diplomatic ties with Thimphu, said external affairs experts.“China’s contention that India has entered Chinese territory is bogus as the area is disputed between it and Bhutan. It is not a Chinese territory and cannot be declared unilaterally as one. For India, it is a Bhutanese territory claimed by China, in the same way as China, by virtue of its occupation of Tibet, claims Indian territory,” said former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.China, when it extended its improved military infrastructure into Doklam, knew it would invite an Indian response based on the provisions of the India-Bhutan treaty, he said. China is trying to stoke adverse feelings against India within Bhutan by projecting the security treaty as a hegemonic exercise, as part of its effort to undercut New Delhi’s position in its neighbourhood, he added.</s>New Delhi: Japan came out in full support for India in its protracted military stand-off with China at Doklam, near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan trijunction, saying no country should use unilateral forces to change the status quo on the ground.

Acknowledging the situation at the Doklam Plateau, Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu said, “We recognise Doklam is a disputed area between Bhutan and China and the two countries are engaged in border talks. We also understand that India has a treaty understanding with Bhutan, that’s why Indian troops got involved in the area,” according to the local media.

The endorsement of the Indian position by Japan is a significant development at a regional level as China has violated agreements with Japan as well and not with only India and Bhutan. It is pertinent to mention that Japan is also engaged with the sovereignty issue with China over East China sea. The Bhutanese Government had earlier told ANI over phone, “Our position on the border issue of Doklam is very clear.”

Reacting to the developments in Doklam, the Bhutanese Government had on June 29 issued a press release in which it clearly stated that the construction of the road inside the Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

China is attempting to build a road through Doklam plateau, which is part of Bhutan, a development that would be a serious disadvantage to India’s military defences. Meanwhile, as the Doklam stand-off is approcahing its second month, China’s Foreign Ministry has reiterated that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops would continue to defend Dong Lang, which is Chinese territory, and India should withdraw all its troops and equipment from there.

The stand-off began when China started constructing a road in the area. India objected to the road construction after the Chinese troops ignored Bhutanese protests, triggering the faceoff from June 16. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has reiterated that India’s road map is peace and talks are going on to resolve the issue diplomatically. India has made its stance clear that that it stands for peace the border question can be solved diplomatically, not by war.
An English-language Chinese propaganda video from Xinhua, entitled The Spark: 7 Sins of India about the Doklam stand-off involving China, India and Bhutan, goes viral and sparks anger within India.