India has criticized Chinese social media influencers for filming videos in low-income neighborhoods in Bangladesh and falsely presenting the footage as scenes from New Delhi, accusing them of spreading disinformation and damaging India’s image.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Nov. 10 that the practice of Chinese nationals filming short videos in Dhaka, Bangladesh, while claiming to be in India was unfortunate, according to Indian news outlet The Print.
“We urge authorities concerned to take appropriate action against them,” Jaiswal said at a press briefing.
“In so far as efforts by foreign elements to portray parts of Dhaka as Delhi are concerned, peddling of false narratives only undermines the credibility of the actors involved and those behind them in such an exercise.”
According to The Print, Chinese influencers have spent months livestreaming from residential neighborhoods and roadside businesses in northern Dhaka, telling viewers they are in New Delhi and describing the surroundings as dirty, backward, and unsafe.
In a video filmed on Nov. 1, a woman who identified herself as being from China’s Sichuan Province livestreamed beside a canal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, showing viewers the neighboring Tekpara community.
“This is New Delhi. Their houses are very dirty. Houses with tin roofs don’t even have a fan. This place is very backward, dirty, and unhygienic,” she says in the video.
Local residents told The Print that some Chinese nationals brought Indian consumer products, including shampoo, soap, and Kesh King hair oil, to local pharmacies to promote during livestreams. Pharmacy owners received about 500 Bangladeshi taka in exchange for allowing the filming, according to the local residents.
Some Chinese visitors also hired local Bangladeshis to assist with their recordings. A Bangladeshi woman identified as Ritu Akhter told Prothom Alo reporters on Oct. 27 that she had worked as a guide for the Chinese visitors for several months, adding that several other Bangladeshi women were doing similar work.
Reports on the scale of the activity vary considerably. The Print reported that around 150 Chinese nationals were involved. Some Bangladeshi media reports cited estimates of 5,000 to 6,000 Chinese in the area, according to The Print. The Epoch Times could not independently verify the figures, and no official count is available.
Some Indian media outlets have described the activity as part of a broader campaign to undermine India’s image. Indian media outlet NDTV stated that the livestreams on Nov. 11 were seemingly part of a coordinated disinformation campaign, while The Times of India called them an anti-India campaign.
In a Nov. 10 video report, India Today quoted strategic analyst Sushant Sareen describing the activity as “propaganda” and suggesting it was government-driven.
However, the available reporting has not established who organized or funded the livestreams or whether they were directed by the Chinese regime.
The controversy comes amid lingering tensions between New Delhi and Beijing following deadly border clashes in 2020. Although relations have since shown signs of improvement, disputes over their Himalayan border and mutual security concerns continue to complicate ties.
Chinese nationals involved in the livestreams have also drawn criticism from overseas Chinese commentators, who accused them of exploiting impoverished communities to generate sensational content for audiences in China.
One Australia-based Chinese-language account on X, @ChinaTruth, which focuses on China issues and human rights, wrote that audiences inside China’s tightly controlled internet environment were shown a narrative that “foreign countries are even worse,” adding that nationalist pride was manufactured through carefully edited footage.
Another Chinese-language X account with a significant following and based in Southeast Asia, @dylanyu88, criticized the streamers for using poor people’s homes as backdrops. The account accused them of treating viewers as fools and tarnishing the reputation of Chinese people living and working overseas.
Tang Bing contributed to this report.
