China's '7 Sins' video has Indians laughing
NEW DELHI Indians have been more amused than outraged by an agitprop video released by a Chinese state news agency that accuses India of perpetrating "Seven Sins" in a two-month-old frontier stand-off and resorts to a racial stereotype to make its point.
The video, an edition of Xinhua's new Spark show, features the anchor accusing India of trespassing on Chinese soil, violating international law and "hijacking" Bhutan, which has been caught up in the dispute.
An actor wearing a turban and stick-on beard gives obtuse answers, to canned laughter, in the three-minute video posted via Xinhua's English-language account on social network Twitter. Twitter is blocked in China.
Although the escalation in tension is the worst in years, the clip's sketchy production values offered light relief, while the stereotype played by the "Indian" actor appeared to cause only mild offence.
"This is China's official sense of humour!" tweeted Indian defence pundit Ajai Shukla.
"Xinhua isn't quite sure whether it's producing a spoof... or a propaganda piece."- REUTERS
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