Oppo Flag Controversy Turns Into India vs China Fight; Chinese Govt Demands Safety Of Their Firms, Nationals In India!

Citizens of both India and China are pretty nationalistic and patriot. And when one insults the national flag of another country, then fumes of anger are bound to surface.

But the whole issue becomes more controversial when Govt. of one country jumps in to intervene. Something similar was witnessed in the last 96 hours, at Chinese mobile company Oppo’s office in Noida.

Chinese Employee Insults Indian Flag; Emotions Flare Up

On Monday, a Chinese employee named Suhahu who works at Oppo’s office in Noida Sector 63, tore away India’s flag and threw it in the nearby dustbin.

That flag was in the form of a poster, which was pasted on the wall of the office, since January 26th.

Indian employees working at Oppo’s office witnessed this, and soon the news spread like wildfire. Hundreds of employees assembled outside the office and started demanding action against Suhahu for insulting Indian flag.

Interestingly, the protesting employees were already upset with the company over issues of pending overtime dues, violation of labour laws and more internal issues. The incident of the flag being torn just acted like a fuel on the fire, and the matter escalated.

Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Yadav arrived at the office premises and held meetings with the office management. District Magistrate of Noida N.P. Singh as well as the Labour Commissioner also held meetings with Oppo officials to diffuse the case.

Chinese Govt. Steps In To Intervene; Matter Escalates

Meanwhile yesterday, in a diplomatic move, Chinese Govt. stepped in and issued few statements regarding the incident.

Lu Kang, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said that they are having talks with the local police, and following the incident.

He said, “The Chinese government always asks its Chinese enterprises and staff overseas to abide by local law and regulations and respect local practices and customs”, adding, “We also hope that the legitimate rights of the Chinese enterprises and staff will be safeguarded under the strict regulations of law..”

From the statements, it seemed that Chinese Govt. is scared that their firms and nationals would be harmed in India, and indirectly, asked the Indian Govt. to safeguard their interests.

At the same time, this news reached Chinese media, and their citizens started making sarcastic comments on the incident. One Weibo user sarcastically said, “If 1.2 billion Indians do not buy Chinese goods, the Chinese economy would be in a depression, and if they do not buy Chinese good for one year, China would collapse. All the Indians who see this picture have to forward it, or you are not an Indian..”

Oppo Acts Maturely; De-escalates The Issue

Oppo, the company where the incident happened, acted maturely and de-escalated the issue by a simple action: They terminated that employee which insulted Indian flag.

They not only investigated the incident, and found the truth, but also apologised for the whole mess.

In a statement, they said, “Based on the recent incident and after thorough investigation with the concerned authorities, we have found that a worker discarded the Indian Flag from the table during the regular external material check. OPPO India regrets this unfortunate incident and reaffirms that this is an individual’s behaviour that in no way represents our company’s position. We have ZERO tolerance for such matters and have taken strict action in terminating the individual and continue working very closely with the authorities on the matter.”

Oppo is a rapidly rising phone brand in India, and such controversies would do no good to their brand reputation. Besides, they are now the official sponsors of India cricket team as well. And cricket is a game which fuels on nationalistic emotions.

And the fact that they found out the truth, and took prompt action would be appreciated by one and all. However, we are still awaiting the reaction from China, after this decision.

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