Beijing Olympics 2022: PLA's Commander Involved In Galwan Clash Becomes Torchbearer For China

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: Ahead of the Winter Olympics 2022, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier, Qi Fabao, wounded during the 2020 border clash with Indian troops in the Galwan Valley, has become the Torchbearer.

Beijing Olympics 2022. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing tension on the LAC, China has included a soldier's name in the list of eminent people who ran with a torch in the Winter Olympics. 

On Wednesday, Qi Fabao, the regimental commander from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Xinjiang military command, became a torchbearer and took the flame from Wang Meng, China’s four-time Olympic short-track speed skating champion, at Winter Olympic Park.

The Winter Olympics are set to take place on Friday in Beijing, the capital of China, just six months after the Tokyo Games. 

Chinese mouthpiece Global Times also tweeted a picture of Qi Fabao, as a 'torch-bearer' in the torch-relay race of the Winter Olympics. According to Global Times, PLA Regimental Commander, Chi Fabao suffered a head injury while fighting India in the Battle of Galwan Valley.

He “took the flame from Wang Meng, China’s four-time Olympic short track speed skating champion, at Winter Olympic Park on Wednesday,” a report in the Global Times said.

On 15-16 June 2019, Senior Colonel Qi Fabao of China's PLA Army suffered serious injuries in the violence in the Galwan Valley of the LAC adjoining Eastern Ladakh. Later, the Communist Party of China (CCP) honored Fabao with the title of 'Hero Colonel'. 

Notably, after the Galwan battle, China completely hid the news of the casualties of its soldiers. Whereas the Indian Army had made public the information about the soldiers martyred while fighting the Chinese army. The Indian government had also awarded posthumously gallantry awards to six out of 20 soldiers who died in battle. Among them was Colonel Santosh Babu, who was posthumously awarded the Mahavir Chakra.

The lavish opening ceremony which will be held on Friday will be attended by world leaders including President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, five Central Asian Presidents, and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.