This photo does not show Chinese soldiers who died in 2020 Galwan clash

Hyderabad: Social media users are sharing photos reportedly of Chinese soldiers who were killed in the 2020 Galwan clash.

Several Twitter users shared the photo and wrote, "Pictures of Chinese soldiers eliminated in action surfaced online today. most likely from the Galwan clash as there had been no incident of the Army involved and remember these are not Jawans but officer level."

Click here, here, and here to see the Twitter post.

On 15 June 2020, there was a violent clash between the Indian and Chinese armies in Ladakh's Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Fact Check

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found the photo in a report published by chinanews.com in 2010. It said that the photo shows the coffins of 15 martyrs who died in a bush fire in Daofu county, Sichuan province. The deceased were kept in Kangding Gymnasium for the public to carry out mourning activities.

We also found the photo in a report published by another Chinese website in 2010. It said, on 9 December 2010, a memorial conference was organised for the martyrs in Kangding, which was attended by more than 700 people, including officers and soldiers of the army, local people, and representatives of the martyrs' families.

Finally, we ran a keyword search and found several news reports from December 2010 about a massive grassland fire in Tibet's Sichuan province. The reports also said that 22 people, including 15 soldiers, two workers with the grassland administration, and five other local civilians were killed during the rescue operation. (See reports by India Today, South China Morning Post, and Reuters.)

It is evident that the photo of the deceased Chinese soldiers dates back to 2010. The Galwan clash took place in 2020. Hence, the claim is misleading.