A viral video of a Chinese flag hoisting ceremony at Galwan on January 1 garnered huge attention throughout the world. However, some users on Chinese social media platform Weibo have indicated that CCP used Chinese actors to stage the entire ceremony.

According to some Weibo users, CCP used Chinese actor ‘Wu Jing’ and his wife, a Chinese actress and TV host ‘Xie Nan’ to dramatically create the flag raising ceremony. The location where the shooting happened was nearly 28 Kms behind Galwan river much inside the Chinese controlled area of Aksai Chin. 

Wu Jing is one of the top actors in Chinese cinema industry where he has played protagonist in several Chinese movies and dramas. He has played the role of a Chinese soldier several times during his career. He is known for his role as a PLA soldier in Chinese movie ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ which is the most expensive film ever made in China with a budget of $200 million. The film’s story was approved by CCP and was announced as a part of the 100th Anniversary of Chinese Communist Party.

The other renowned face spotted by Weibo users in China's propaganda video is Wu's wife, Xie Nan who reportedly rose to fame in a 2007 drama series, Jian Xing Tian Xia. She is also known for her prominent roles in A Chinese Odyssey Part Three, The Faces of My Gene, and The Day We Lit Up the Sky.

The users on the Chinese social media platform, according to media reports, have said that a team of directors and junior actors arrived at the 'shooting' spot along with Wu, Xie and some PLA members on 24 December 2021 to enact the entire ceremony. It reportedly took four hours for the shooting to take place in December before the video was released on 1 January. Media reports have stated that shortly after the names of the Chinese actors were revealed by Weibo users with screenshots, the accounts of the celebrities were suspended.

It is to be noted that three days after China released the video, pictures have emerged of a group of Indian Army soldiers proudly hoisting the tricolour in the Galwan Valley on New Year's Day.

The photos released by Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju were sensed as a powerful counter to a video shared by the Chinese Communist Party mouth piece Global Times.

At this, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday posted a tweet carrying the caption, "In the Galwan Valley near the border with India, under the characters 'Never yield an inch of land', PLA soldiers send new year greetings to Chinese people on January 1, 2022", it showed People's Liberation Army soldiers saluting their national flag.

A day later, the Wayanad MP seemed to buy this narrative as he asked PM Modi to "break his silence" and give a befitting reply to China. Gandhi also cried foul over a news item about the construction of a bridge on Pangong Lake even though it was deep inside China's territory.

Responding to Gandhi's tweet, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra slammed him and said "China likes it".

"When you believe in China's 'Propaganda' and distrust India's army, then China likes it," tweeted Sambit Patra to Rahul Gandhi's tweet which read, "It feels good to hoist our tricolour on the holy land of India."

Image courtesy: Twitter