The son of a late Chinese People’s Liberation Army general has claimed that two PLA soldiers died from their injuries after recent border clashes with India, contradicting official reports that there were no Chinese fatalities.

In a message posted on Weibo — China's equivalent of Twitter — Cai Xiaoxin, son of Major General Cai Changyuan, wrote on Wednesday: "Two of the five heroes who were injured when defending our country died of wounds from dagger stabs the day before yesterday (June 22) after being hospitalized for eight days."



He also claimed in the same post that the 47 Indian soldiers had died in the clashes, instead of 20 as announced by the Indian government. The post was soon deleted.



After the long-disputed border clashes in the western Himalayas last week, New Delhi said that the PLA deaths doubled India’s, amounting to 40 in total. China refuted the claim and has so far refused to release its number of casualties.



As border tensions between India and China show no sign of easing, Reuters reported on Wednesday that India has held up imports from China at its ports, including products from Apple, Cisco and other U.S. companies. Electronics components of Taiwan’s Foxconn, a contract manufacturer for Apple in India, were also affected.



While no official government notice had been issued to customs officers, Reuters quoted government and industry sources that some officers at major Indian ports had “held back” Chinese containers, citing the reason of “additional clearances”.

The report said the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), a lobby group representing U.S. firms, told India’s commerce ministry in a letter dated June 23 that the lack of clarity and delays could disrupt business and manufacturing operations.



The delays come as India restarts factory operations after a nationwide lockdown to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

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