On Wednesday, the Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong who is on a two-day visit to the state of Tamil Nadu paid a visit to the headquarters of the left-wing outlet The Hindu and held face-to-face talks with its Editor Suresh Nambath and other staff members.
“Visited the headquarters of The Hindu. Face-to-face communication leads to mutual understanding and trust. Welcome you all to explore and know more about a real, objective, and 3-dimensional China”, said Ambassador Sun Weidong posting a video of his visit to the media outlet.
Weidong in the video could be seen interacting and exchanging ideas with Editor Suresh Nambath other editors and reporters. He could also be seen praising the functioning of the entire media outlet. Weidong is on a state visit to promote friendly exchanges and practical cooperation between China and Tamil Nadu.
During his two-day visit to the state, the Ambassador also visited the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu(SIPCOT) Industrial Park in Chennai and planted friendship trees with the executive team. “China and India, both major emerging economies, have great potential in trade and investment win-win cooperation and common development”, he said during the visit.
However, the Chinese Ambassador’s visit to the headquarters of the left-wing media outlet was not welcomed by the netizens. As The Hindu has been peddling pro-China content quite often, One of the users stated that Sun Weidong was visiting one of the Chinese Office’s branches and was interacting with its own employees. “CEO visiting the branch office to give a pep talk to employees. Nothing unusual”, he tweeted.
Meanwhile, another one recalled that ‘The Hindu’ had furthered the Chinese propaganda by publishing a full-page Chinese advertisement celebrating 100 years of the founding of the Communist Party of China in the year 2021.
Here are some more interesting responses to the said visit:
The Hindu furthering the Chinese propaganda in the past
It is important to note that the mutual understanding and trust between the left-wing outlet The Hindu and the Chinese government has been healthy and financially strong for the past many years. In the year 2021, while China faced global condemnation for its alleged Coronavirus experiments in the Wuhan Lab and subsequent misinformation propaganda regarding the origin and spread of the Pandemic, ‘The Hindu’ had chosen to further its commercial and ideological interests by promoting Communist China’s propaganda material.
On July 1, the Hindu had published a full-page advertorial paid for and planted by China on the occasion of the centenary anniversary of the Communist Party of China. The paid content appeared on the third page of the paper.
Also in the year 2020, a few months after the deadly clash between the Indian Army and Chinese troops at the Galwan valley led to the death of 20 brave Indian soldiers, ‘the Hindu’ had published a similar advertorial favoring China.
On October 1, 2020, The Hindu had run a full-page advertorial paid by China on the occasion of its national day. In a hurry to make money and further the Communist propaganda, the Hindu had published a Chinese advertorial in an open disregard for the sacrifice of Indian soldiers. Later, the Income Tax Department initiated a probe against the English daily about alleged financial transactions between the newspaper and China.
Similarly, on April 2, 2020, The Hindu published another advertorial by China. The advertisement was placed to celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations between China and India, even as China continued to betray India on the promises made.