China makes Galwan soldier Olympics torchbearer: US slam Beijing for its attempts to intimidate India

Washington/New Delhi: The US has reiterated its concern over China's "pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate" India and said it stands with friends, even as US Senators have slammed Beijing for politicizing the Beijing Olympics with a direct reference to the Galwan skirmish with India.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: “When it comes to the broader issue of India-China border situation, we continue to support direct dialogue and a peaceful resolution of the border disputes. We have previously voiced our concerns of Beijing's pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbors. As we always do, we stand with friends, we stand with partners and allies, to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the Indo-Pacific.”

He was responding to a question on China deputing a Peoples Liberation Army commander who was involved in the Galwan clash of June 2020 with India as torch bearer for the Beijing Olympics.

Senator Jim Risch, a Ranking Member of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, termed China's politicizing the Beijing Olympics “shameful” and said the US will continue to support the sovereignty of India.

“It's shameful that #Beijing chose a torchbearer for the #Olympics2022 who's part of the military command that attacked #India in 2020 and is implementing #genocide against the #Uyghurs. The U.S. will cont. to support #Uyghur freedoms & the sovereignty of India,” Risch tweeted.

Another Senator Marco Rubio slammed China: “Another outrageous example of the #CCP's flagrant politicization of Beijing2022. Their decision to choose a soldier who participated in a 2020 ambush against Indian troops as torchbearer is appalling and deliberately provocative.

India on Thursday announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, saying that its top official in Beijing would not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the event, following China's provocation of deploying a PLA commander who had led the bloody Galwan 2020 clashes, as torch bearer for the Winter Olympics torch relay.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India's Charge D'Affaires at the Beijing Embassy would not be attending the opening or closing ceremony of the Olympics.

“We have seen reports on this issue. It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like the Olympics. I wish to inform that our Charge D 'Affaires of our embassy in Beijing, will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,” he said.

The state-run Global Times reported that Qi Fabao, a regiment commander, who had sustained a head injury in the fighting in the freezing Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15-16, 2020, was a torch bearer at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday. (UNI)