China Rejects Criticism Over Fielding PLA Soldier In Winter Olympic Torch Relay

China has dismissed criticism raised by India over fielding of a Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) soldier involved in the border clash with Indian soldiers at Galway Valley in 2020 as a torchbearer for Beijing Winter Olympics and said that his selection met the standards

BEIJING, Feb 8 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Feb, 2022 ) :China has dismissed criticism raised by India over fielding of a Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) soldier involved in the border clash with Indian soldiers at Galway Valley in 2020 as a torchbearer for Beijing Winter Olympics and said that his selection met the standards. "The torchbearers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are broadly representative and meet the selection standards," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing held here Tuesday.

He hoped the relevant side would view the selection of the torchbearers in an objective and rational manner and refrain from making politicized interpretation.

India enacted a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, in wake of China selecting a soldier who fought against India in 2020 as a torchbearer.

Qi Fabao, a PLA regiment commander who sustained injury while fighting in the Galwan Valley border skirmish with India, as torchbearer during the Torch Relay.

Around 20 Indian soldiers were killed during fight with Indian troops in Galwan Valley in June of 2020, while four Chinese soldiers also lost their lives in the clash. It was the deadliest clash since the Sino-Indian War in 1962.