 "Punjabi music and black-faced turbaned dancers: The outrage over China's racist ad mocking India")
It looks like China has found a new way to provoke India. In the current example, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security used a controversial video of Chinese dancers in blackface dancing to Bollywood music to supposedly teach people about road safety. According to South China Morning Post, the Chinese ministry’s official account shared the video on its Weibo account on Saturday. However, the video provoked strong reactions from Indians.
Let’s take a look. Also read: As China threat is real, India must focus on ammunition till full Indigenisation Chinese racist ad mocking Indians The video, which was uploaded by the Chinese comedian Brother Hao on the video-sharing website Bilibili on 6 May, seems to be a parody of the Daler Mehndi song Tunak tunak Tun from 1998. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security then adopted it and used it to launch a road safety campaign on Weibo to remind users of the value of using seatbelts and helmets. The video was released while India and China continue to experience border tensions.
Here is the video which was shared by the Ministry of Public Security's Weibo account. pic.twitter.com/HIPYgDAj3Z
— Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) May 8, 2023
In the video, Hao can be seen riding a motorbike with two other men who are also wearing turbans. The faces of the three look to have been made darker using makeup and none of them are wearing helmets. Another man in a similar outfit is seated next to them in a car. Three Chinese women sitting behind the driver of the car are dressed in what looks to be lehenga cholis. The women get down and begin dancing with some of the bikers in a spoof of bhangra moves as the men on the bike appear to get into an argument with the car driver. The Mehndi hit is playing in the background while they talk. “Brownface” or “blackface” are terms used to describe the practice of darkening an actor’s skin to resemble a person of a different race. The video was published with the message, “Seat belts should also be worn in rear seats of cars. Remember when riding a motorcycle, you can’t go on the road without a helmet,” by China’s Ministry of Public Security, reported The Print. Also read: China objects to India's proposal to blacklist JeM terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar at UN Sharp criticism Many Chinese social media users defended the video as an example of “Indian soft power” and the song’s “monumental” popularity in China, according to an SCMP report published on Wednesday.
It's more entertaining to see Chinese copying and dubbing songs. Fun to see more such clips.
— Dayakar Yadav (@Dayakar23830288) May 11, 2023
Well I find it funny...just some light hearted fun
— Ryuk (@illuminati_repr) May 8, 2023
While Indian social media users who commented on Brar’s post criticised the video for being “racist” and “offensive” and claimed it was “offensive” and “racist.” “Yes, they are very much mocking India, Bollywood and Indians,” a Twitter user wrote. While another one chipped in, “Well is any one surprised? Chinese are one most unironically racist people in world.”
Yes, they are very much mocking India, Bollywood and Indians.
— Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) May 6, 2023
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBased on music, it seems they are singing the song " aankhe khuli ho ya ho band, deedaar unka hota hai, kaise kahu main o yara o, pyaar kaise hota hai." But, are simply translating this lyrics, or have rewritten and modified the lyrics to mock Bollywood?
— Uttam Kumar (@007agnostic) May 6, 2023
Well is any one surprised? Chinese are one most unironically racist people in world.
— K Singh (@KSingh010182) May 6, 2023
According to a Chinese national quoted in the report, “Indian women are regarded as beauties in China, but Indian men are regarded as clowns.” Also read: German cartoon stirs row for mocking India's population: When caricatures turned controversial It’s not the first time In 2017, China openly criticised India in a video posted on Twitter that has racial overtones in how it chooses to portray an Indian. A day after Indian and Chinese troops had a brief, heated altercation in Ladakh, the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, released a film that claims to illustrate the “seven sins” that India has committed while “illegally trespassing” into Doklam. In the video, a woman describes New Delhi’s seven alleged crimes while speaking in English. The video occasionally cuts to a character who, we is believed to represent India. The character is shown wearing a turban, an unconvincing fake beard, and an even more awful ‘Indian’ voice in an apparent attempt to make it clear that the actor is impersonating India.
#TheSpark: 7 Sins of India. It’s time for India to confess its SEVEN SINS. pic.twitter.com/vb9lQ40VPH
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 16, 2017
The video by itself says nothing that hasn’t already been mentioned by Chinese media in one of the many rhetoric-heavy articles, op-eds, and commentary that have been released since Indian Army and Chinese People’s Liberation Army forces clashed on the Doklam plateau in the middle of June. The video accuses New Delhi of breaking international law by sending Indian Army soldiers to Doklam, among other things, and criticises India for being a “bad neighbour” because “Indian troops carrying weapons and driving bulldozers illegally crossed the delimited boundary into the UNDISPUTED Chinese territory.” The government of China and official media have repeatedly requested that India evacuate its troops from Doklam without conditions, and this video reiterates their demands. The unsupported claim that Bhutan informed China that Doklam is Chinese territory is also repeated in the film. In July 2019, Singapore’s state-owned broadcaster issued an apology after an advertisement showing an actor of Chinese descent who had his skin darkened to impersonate several races incited outrage in multiethnic Singapore, according to Deccan Chronicle. In Singapore, where ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indians, and Muslim Malays live alongside a sizable expat population from all over the world, race is a touchy topic. The actor Dennis Chew from broadcaster Mediacorp played four characters in the advertisement, which was part of a government-led effort to promote cashless transactions in the technologically advanced city-state. He portrayed a Chinese guy and a Chinese woman, as well as an Indian man and a Malay woman wearing a headscarf, by darkening his complexion. Each character was pictured with a dish of food that had been digitally purchased. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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