China blames Indian media for stirring up negative sentiments against it

Blaming Indian media for “stirring up” negative sentiments against China by highlighting the “divergences” in ties, a state-run Chinese daily today said press on both sides should be cautious about attempts by the West to drive a “wedge” between the two countries.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to India on Friday. As a number of media outlets reported, the tour was focused on cooperation over the upcoming G20 and BRICS summits, an op-ed article in the Global Times said.

“However, quite a few Indian media started to cover the tour a week ago with the eye-catching headline ‘China blocked India’s NSG bid, but now wants help on South China Sea’,” said the article titled ‘Indian media should view Beijing-Delhi ties constructively’.

“After negative hype over Sino-Indian ties by Indian media for a long time, it is not hard to envisage that they did it again this time. Yet while they grab all the attention they want like always, they have also caused a deterioration in the Indian public’s views of China,” it said.

“Given the recent frictions between the two countries, including the NSG issue and New Delhi’s rejection of visa extension requests for Chinese reporters, there are indeed certain puzzles left unresolved in the bilateral relationship.  But they can hardly represent the big picture of Sino-Indian ties,” it said.

The article, though, praised the efforts being made by both the governments to address the issues in bilateral ties. “Thanks to the efforts of governments from both parties, the two nations have been enhancing collaboration and promoting more communications and mechanisms over bilateral, regional issues.

“Yet while the Indian government is treating its relations with Beijing rationally, the country’s media and public opinion are busy stirring up negative sentiments. They tend to attach more attention to divergences while overstating contradictions between the two,” it said.

“Words like ‘invasion’ or ‘transgression’ are often used by them to describe Beijing without naming sources, and the ‘China threat theory’ has been hyped up by them from time to time,” it said.

“Clearly, the Indian media has not yet learned to see the considerable potential of the bilateral relationships with a constructive mind-set,” it said.

It is important for the Indian media to remember that development and prosperity are needed by both sides and they need a stable environment for that, it said.

“The West is taking delight in driving a wedge between Beijing and New Delhi. Media from both countries should therefore be more cautious not to fall for that,” it said.