CHINA / SOCIETY
Chinese youngsters flood social media to mourn border heroes who died in clash with India with surging patriotism
Published: Feb 20, 2021 08:54 PM

File photo


 
"I did not understand how such strong soldiers could die until I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night realizing that they died for me."

This is a comment a user on China's anime-streaming platform bilibili.com named Yuedingchenshu on Friday left under a video revisiting the Indian military's illegal trespassing of the Galwan Valley Line of Actual Control (LAC) last June and mourning the four who died when dealing with the clash.

On the following day, the comments went viral on Chinese social media platforms with the hashtag "They died for me" being viewed more than one billion times.

"It is the real thoughts of us youngsters, we really live and breathe with the country," said a user on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. 

"Pure love, only for the country" is another viral hashtag on Weibo on Saturday. It is a sentence from the diary of one of the  soldiers Chen Xiangrong who died during the border clash.  

Chen Hongjun


 

Chen Xiangrong


 

Xiao Siyuan


 

Wang Zhuoran


 
According to media reports, when Chinese military officials visited Chen's family and asked his mother whether she had any difficulties regarding daily life, Chen's mother said that "I do not have any difficulties, I just want to know whether my son was brave when fighting." 

"He gave his life for safeguarding the country and rescuing his comrades. He is absolutely brave," a Weibo user commented.  

The sacrifice of the four soldiers has taught a patriotic lesson to Chinese youngsters who have grown up in a peaceful era. 

In the video revisiting the LAC clash, users of bilibili.com, one of the most popular platforms among Chinese youngsters who used to actively leave barrages on the videos to express their feelings and opinions, left nothing but a full screen of "salute."

Many netizens said that, after viewing the video, their hearts were filled with unspoken words and they could not utter a single one.  

"I understand that I live a peaceful life as a result of some one else's sacrifice. I only hope all soldiers can return home safely," said a Weibo user.

Despite living in a peaceful period, we also contribute to the country's development in our own capacity by fulfilling our responsibilities, some netizens said.  

Global Times