Bangladesh monitors Chinese nationals accused of spreading false narratives on India

Chinese nationals accused of filming low-income neighbourhoods in Dhaka and falsely portraying them as areas in India have reduced their activities after Bangladeshi law enforcement increased surveillance following concerns raised by India. Authorities are monitoring the vloggers, who are suspected of spreading disinformation through social media content.

Dhaka: Chinese nationals accused of filming poor Dhaka neighbourhoods and falsely presenting the footage as scenes from India have scaled down their activities following increased surveillance by local law enforcement agencies, after New Delhi raised concern over the use of Bangladesh’s territory to defame it.

Mohammad Khalid Mansur, officer-in-charge of Uttara West Police Station, said the activities of the Chinese vloggers have decreased following the intervention of law enforcement agencies, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported on Thursday.

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Police and intelligence agencies have stepped up surveillance of the Chinese nationals and began monitoring their activities, he said.

According to reports in Bangladeshi media, around 150 Chinese nationals were operating across Dhaka’s Tekpara and Uttara neighbourhoods, livestreaming footage of narrow streets and low-income areas onto Chinese social media. They introduced different localities as New Delhi and made disparaging remarks about the lifestyle of residents.

The vloggers filmed people’s homes and daily activities, sometimes even entering residential premises, without residents knowing where the footage was being uploaded or how they were being portrayed.

It is suspected to be part of a coordinated disinformation campaign.

“There was no police surveillance over their activities. More than a hundred vloggers were making videos like this every day. They also paid Bangladeshi citizens for this work,” the Prothom Alo report said.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs on November 10 called for appropriate action against the Chinese vloggers for peddling “false narratives” to defame India.

Following the uproar, the Chinese nationals were asked to produce their passports and visas and explain why they were undertaking such activities while visiting Bangladesh on tourist visas.

They were also told to return to their country after the expiry of their permitted stay, the report said, quoting police.

However, it is not immediately known whether any formal investigation has been initiated into the activities of the Chinese nationals or whether any action has been taken against them for alleged violations of visa conditions.

Residents say they have not seen any Chinese nationals in Uttara and Tekpara for the past few days.

“I have been at home for two days due to illness. I have not seen any Chinese citizens coming,” Md Selim, a resident of Tekpara area, said.

According to rickshaw puller Imamul Islam, a bridge over a canal adjacent to Sector 12 in Uttara was a “hideout” for the Chinese.

“They would videotape us all day and night. They would also videotape us; they would also videotape the passengers. I haven’t seen them for a while,” he said.