India Slams Chinese Influencers Filming Dhaka As Delhi, Calls It False Narrative

India criticised reports that Chinese influencers were filming in Dhaka and passing the footage off as scenes from Delhi. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry, said the effort amounted to a false narrative and urged the authorities concerned to act.

“We have seen media reports in this regard. Such efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate. In so far as efforts by foreign elements to portray parts of Dhaka as Delhi are concerned, peddling of false narratives only undermines the credibility of the actors involved and those behind them in such an exercise. We urge authorities concerned to take appropriate action against them,” he said.

Reports by Bangladeshi outlets say around 150 Chinese nationals have been livestreaming from poor neighbourhoods in Dhaka while claiming the footage is from New Delhi. The videos include derogatory comments about living conditions in India and have raised questions over whether the material is part of a wider disinformation effort aimed at Chinese audiences.

Western viewers have long shown interest in poverty across South Asia, especially in India. That interest appears in documentaries on informal settlements and in the flow of foreign tourists who visit slums on guided tours. China’s economy is larger than India’s, but India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. New Delhi is also seeking to attract manufacturers based in China.

Prothom Alo Findings

A Prothom Alo investigation published on November 6 reported that Chinese nationals had been filming in Tekpara and Uttara in Dhaka and livestreaming the footage on Chinese platforms as if it were from New Delhi. The newspaper said it translated the commentary using Google Translate and verified the translations with four Bangladeshis familiar with Chinese.

One streamer, identified as "Mianmian", said she was from China’s Sichuan province. On November 1, she livestreamed beside a canal in Uttara’s Sector 12. “This is New Delhi. Their homes are extremely dirty. There isn't even a fan inside the tin-roofed houses. This place is quite underdeveloped, dirty and unhygienic, and the law-and-order situation is poor,” Prothom Alo reported she said.

Another streamer, identified as "Wang Wei", was filmed at tea stalls in Tekpara. “Look, they are drinking tea. Do you know what kind of tea this is? This is cow urine tea. They drink cow urine tea,” Prothom Alo reported he said. The newspaper said the videos were posted on WeChat and Douyin. It also reported that one Chinese national, identified as "Fangyou", said the broadcasts were part of product-promotion work but would not explain why the area was chosen. Some Chinese women livestreaming from the same area also said they lived there with their husbands and families after marrying in India, Prothom Alo reported.

Earlier Dhaka Reports

The Business Standard reported on May 28 that Chinese vloggers had been filming in Tekpara. It said they were carrying iPhones fitted with cooling fans, pointing to long filming sessions.

The outlet examined videos on Bilibili and Youku. It found recurring titles using words such as poor, dirty and slum. It also reported that the videos often cast the vloggers as benevolent people helping those in need.

Another newspaper reported on July 6 that the number of Chinese nationals in Uttara’s Sector 12 had risen sharply and that filming had continued for several months. One resident told the newspaper, "We don't understand their language or what they are saying. We don't know why they come here. We see them moving along Tekpara Road and making videos." Another said, "They have been doing this continuously for three or four months. They go into every shop and record videos. We don't know what their real plan is." Bangladesh Pratidin also showed Chinese nationals recording in narrow lanes, residential neighbourhoods and local shops.

Consent And Privacy

The reports also raised privacy concerns. Prothom Alo and The Business Standard alleged that Chinese nationals were entering homes without permission and filming people in private spaces.

Residents told Prothom Alo that some vloggers had entered houses and bathrooms while recording. The Business Standard separately reported allegations that vloggers had gone into kitchens and other private areas without consent.

Both reports said Bangladeshi women were helping the Chinese nationals. Prothom Alo quoted one local guide as saying she was paid Tk 700 to Tk 800 a day for the work, while The Business Standard said some women who travelled with the vloggers got Tk 500 to Tk 1,000. Kaler Kantho also reported that when its correspondent approached one Chinese national, he phoned a Bangladeshi man and passed the device to a local pharmacy owner, who was reportedly told to gather the journalists' phone numbers and tell them to leave the area.