India: Beijing protests against a new ban on 118 Chinese mobile applications
Among the 118 Chinese mobile apps targeted by the ban is the hugely popular video game PUBG, which has millions of users in India.
AP Photo / Mahesh Kumar A.
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
Beijing lambasted India's decision on Wednesday to once again ban a large number of Chinese mobile applications, a retaliatory measure that comes amid a deadly border dispute between the two Asian giants.
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Among the 118 apps targeted is the hugely popular PUBG video game, which has millions of users in India, as well as online payment services, dating sites, and even an app to edit selfies.
The Indian Ministry of Information Technologies, which had already banned 59 Chinese applications in June, accused these services of being "
prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, the security state and public order
”.
In response, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has expressed its "
strong opposition
" to the Indian measures and called on New Delhi to "
rectify
" them.
►
To read also: India bans 59 Chinese applications, including TikTok
"
India is abusing the concept of national security and adopting restrictive measures against Chinese companies,
" ministry spokesman Gao Feng told an online press conference.
India is increasingly using the economic weapon against China in their dispute.
In addition to banning applications, it has frozen the participation of Chinese companies in 5G telephony infrastructure contracts and blocked Chinese goods at customs posts or ports.
Growing tension in the Himalayas
India and China have known since June a resurgence of tension at their disputed border in the Himalayas, after a
deadly hand-to-hand fight
between their soldiers.
This confrontation of rare violence for 45 years has left 20 dead on the Indian side and an unknown number of victims in the Chinese ranks.
On August 29 and 30, new incidents occurred in the Ladakh region, where the two countries accused each other of violating the Line of Effective Control, the de facto border that is not clearly demarcated.
On Saturday, a soldier of Tibetan origin from the Indian special forces was killed in a clash, according to a parliamentarian.
Beijing has denied this information.
Officers from both sides had a third day of emergency border talks on Wednesday, but no progress that could ease the tension has yet been announced.
India accused Chinese forces of having sought this weekend to seize new territories, assuring that "
the Indian military anticipated these activities
" on the southern shore of Lake Pangong Tso and "
took measures to strengthen our positions and thwart China's intentions to unilaterally change the situation on the ground.
”India has dispatched new reinforcements since this weekend, according to sources in Ladakh.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that "
since the start of this year, India has repeatedly violated bilateral agreements and an important consensus
" on the border .
According to her, India “
has tried to unilaterally change the status quo by force, undermined peace, stability and created tension in the border area.
The responsibility undoubtedly falls on the Indian side
”.
►
To listen: In the Himalayas, the tension escalates between China and India
(
With AFP
)
■ Narendra Modi victim of a hack
The Indian Prime Minister's Twitter account was hacked, the social network said Thursday, which claimed to "
actively investigate
" this hijacking.
Tweets were sent from the Head of Government's account, requesting charitable cryptocurrency donations.
These messages have since been withdrawn.
“
We are aware of these facts and have taken steps to secure the hacked account.
We are actively investigating these facts,
”a Twitter spokesperson said.
In July, the Twitter accounts of dozens of personalities, including Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Barack Obama were the subject of a resounding hack.
Messages posted to the hacked accounts gave Internet users 30 minutes to send $ 1,000 in bitcoin in order to earn double that value in return.
False tweets had been sent from 45 personal and business accounts.
Twitter claimed that it could not establish a link between the hack of the Indian prime minister's account and the one in mid-July.
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