Chinese Vloggers Scale Back Dhaka Filming After India Calls For Action

Chinese nationals accused of filming low-income neighbourhoods in Dhaka and presenting the footage as scenes from India have scaled back their activities after Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies stepped up surveillance following New Delhi's call for action over the alleged misrepresentation.

The development comes two days after India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged the authorities concerned to take action against those involved in the alleged misrepresentation.

Mohammad Khalid Mansur, officer-in-charge of Uttara West Police Station, said the activities of the Chinese vloggers had decreased following the intervention of law enforcement agencies. Police and intelligence agencies had also stepped up surveillance of the Chinese nationals and begun monitoring their activities, Prothom Alo reported on Thursday, quoting him.

According to Prothom Alo, local residents estimated that more than 150 Chinese nationals had been filming across Dhaka's Tekpara and Uttara neighbourhoods, although the exact number could not be established. They livestreamed footage of narrow streets and low-income residential areas on Chinese social media platforms, presenting different localities as New Delhi and making disparaging remarks about residents' lifestyles.

The vloggers filmed people's homes and everyday activities, sometimes entering residential premises while recording. Residents were unaware of where the footage was being uploaded or how they were being portrayed.

The alleged misrepresentation has raised suspicions of a coordinated disinformation campaign, although the purpose behind the broadcasts and whether the vloggers were acting together remain unclear. Prothom Alo reported that the vloggers had been operating without police surveillance and were also paying Bangladeshi citizens to participate in the filming.

"There was no police surveillance over their activities. More than a hundred vloggers were making videos like this every day. They also paid Bangladeshi citizens for this work," the Prothom Alo report said.

On November 10, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have seen media reports in this regard. Such efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate. Insofar as efforts to buy foreign elements to portray Dhaka as Delhi are concerned, the peddling of false narratives only undermines the credibility of those who are undertaking such actions and those who are behind them. And I would urge the authorities concerned to take action against such people."

Amid the uproar, the Chinese nationals were asked to produce their passports and visas and explain why they were undertaking such activities while visiting Bangladesh on tourist visas.

Police also told them to return to China once their permitted period of stay expired, Prothom Alo reported, quoting police officials.

However, it remains unclear whether Bangladeshi authorities have initiated a formal investigation into the activities or taken any action over alleged violations of visa conditions.

Residents of Uttara and Tekpara have reported that they have not seen the Chinese nationals in their neighbourhoods for the past few days.

Md Selim, a resident of Tekpara, said he had not seen any Chinese nationals in the area recently.

"I have been at home for two days due to illness. I have not seen any Chinese citizens coming," he said.

According to rickshaw puller Imamul Islam, a bridge over a canal adjacent to Sector 12 in Uttara was a "hideout" for the Chinese nationals.

"They would videotape us all day and night. They would also videotape us; they would also videotape the passengers. I haven't seen them for a while," he said.