The mobile manufacturing company Oppo dropped the launch event planned for its new Find X2 smartphones owing to border brawl. The company had scheduled an online ‘unveiling’ event for its flagship Find X2 smartphone for 4 p.m IST on 17th June, but the youtube link dedicated to its live launch was taken down at the last moment. Later, the company uploaded a 20 min pre-recorded video to confirm the launch. The company did not respond to Reuters’ request for a reason behind the cancellation of the online event. Sources close to the company state that this step was taken to avoid any possible social media uproar after the border clash.
After the violent brawl between Indian and Chinese soldiers at the Galwan Valley, Eastern Ladakh, ANI reports claim that at least 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. This incident resulted in an unprecedented rise in resentment against China. Indians made various calls through social media to boycott Chinese goods.
On Twitter, hashtags like #HindiCheeniByeBye (96,000 tweets) and #BharatVsChina were trending.
A twitter user, Uzair Hasan Rizvi, uploaded a video that showed a TV being thrown out from a building in Gujarat, When the “Chinese Television” fell on the ground, the people danced over it until it was finally broken down to bits. However, Reuters could not confirm the date when the video was made.
Call from Swadeshi Jagran Manch, A Hindu nationalist group, urged Indian authorities to ban Chinese from participating in government tenders. The Manch also promoted for reliance on Indian goods through various slogans and posters.
The Confederation of All India Traders, a group representing roughly 70 million retailers, called out for a nationwide boycott of Chinese goods despite the losses they might suffer.
Chinese smartphone brands, including Oppo and Xiaomi, account for 8 out of every 10 smartphones sold in India.
The recent clashes in the border have upset many Chinese investors, who had their eyes on the Indian market. Chinese firms such as Great Wall, SAIC, and Bytedance have placed major bets on India, where investors like Alibaba also fund many startups. The companies which have major Chinese investments include Big Basket, Byju’s, Delhivery, Dream 11, Flipkart, Hike, MakeMyTrip, Ola, Oyo, Paytm, Paytm Mall, PolicyBazzar, Quikr, Rivigo, Snapdeal, Swiggy, Zomato, etc.
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