The Times of London has come out with what it possibly considered a sensational scoop that China used microwave weapons on India troops during the ongoing faceoff in Eastern Ladakh. The news item quotes Jin Canrong, a professor and international studies expert telling his students in Beijing that China uses secret microwave pulse weapon to cook Indian soldiers alive and force them to retreat. Jin claimed that electromagnetic weapons which cook the human tissue of enemy troops ‘turned the mountain tops into a microwave oven’ and made the Indian soldiers vomit. Jin hailed the Chinese forces for ‘beautifully’ executing the move which cleared out Indian troops without violating a ban on gunfire along the disputed border. The Times while explaining that microwave weapons heat water molecules in the same way as the kitchen appliance, targeting water under the skin and causing increasing amounts of pain to the target from ranges of up to 0.6 miles away, claimed this is the first known use of microwave weapons on the battlefield.
The paper claims microwave weapons in the area were deployed by China in early August. It also showed picture of China’s Poly WB-1 weapon. But here the question is about credibility of The Times of London. Is its reporter a disciple of Jin Canrong or was he invited to listen to Jin’s discourse? How much was The Times paid to publish this cock and bull story and is The Times on regular payroll of Beijing? Certainly the publication appears to be competing with the Global Times of China which is better known as the reusable toilet paper of China’s Communist Party (CCP) because of the trash it publishes and the stink it emanates. The Times can unlikely win this race with Global Times though it may keep trying. The publication would do well to undertake research which will prove that the microwave weapon mentioned is ineffective in the type of setting described.
Coming to why Jin Canrong so raved, there are many theories going around. According to one, it is possible that instead of eating live mice, raw frogs and bat droppings he may have suddenly developed a penchant for these to be
cooked in microwave. The second is that Jin may have tried out a bottle of gin instead of the mao tai he is generally used to, which made him go bonkers. Yrt another view is that he may have consumed an extra dose of narcotics, rhino horn, pickled turtle flippers and fresh snake blood that his system could not tolerate. But the most plausible is that he was briefed and hired by the CPC to indulge for such propaganda. Jin Canrong obviously is an active member of CPC otherwise he would not have been holding his post in Peking University. His credentials make him an ideal propaganda platform and it is quite possible that Peking University invited journalists for listening to his science fiction talk to students.
Why Beijing is indulging in such bizarre propaganda has multiple reasons. The Chinese aggression in Ladakh during May-June 2020 was planned by PLA Western Theatre Command and approved by Chinese President Xi Jinping well in advance. PLA had been rehearsing on a land mode of Ladakh inside China since 2014, as revealed by an Australian scholar recently showing satellite imagery of the exercise area. Commander of the Western Theatre Command was General Zhao Zongqi (since replaced). Zongqi was Xi’s blue eyed boy since he organized deployment of PLA on the Doklam Plateau in Bhutan after the India-China standoff was resolved at Doklam in 2017. Zongqi inducted two motorized divisions in Eastern Ladakh but he miscalculated horribly by not invading areas south of Pangong lake in May-June itself before India battling the China Virus could induct additional troops in the area. This was actually a strategic blunder.
When finally PLA attempted to capture heights south of Pangong Lake especially around Chushul, Indian troops beat them to the race. India not only occupied heights around Chushul but also the ridge south of the Pangiong Lake and the Kailash Range covering the Spanggur Gap that opens an avenue for offensive operations. This initiative by India though all in India territory dominates certain PLA locations including their base at Moldo. Chinese troops tried to approach some of these locations with same type of repulsive weapons they had used in a surprise attack on Indian troops during the Galawan Clash on night June 15-16 (clubs with iron
spikes, machetes wrapped with barbed wire, spears and swords) but were unsuccessful amidst reports of an odd warning shots fired by both sides.
What has been particularly galling to China is that some of the heights south of Pangong Lake were occupied by Tibetan troops of India. Besides, Tibetan troops have also been waiving the Tibetan flag in Ladakh during particular occasions and event even before the recent Chinese aggression. This sets the tail of Xi Jinping afire and acts like exploding TNT under the chairs of CCP members with survivors having bouts of vomiting amidst reports of increasing high altitude sickness amongst PLA troops in Ladakh that would includes vomiting. Hence, Jin Canrong blabbering about Indian troops vomiting because of the fictitious microwave attack. Finally, one can only have sympathy for Jin Canrong – a robot with zero privacy and individual freedom chained to the diktats of China’s communist rulers.
Prakash Katoch is third generation army officer hailing from Himachal Pradesh. He is former Lieutenant General from Special Forces and post-retirement has published over 2100 articles on international affairs, geopolitics, military, security, technical and topical issues besides authoring two books. He is active in seminars at both national and international levels.
