Hong Kong: ‘Sina Weibo’, China’s answer to Twitter, said it has deleted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s account. This has been done at the request of the Indian embassy. The decision to delete the ‘Sina Weibo’, app came as tensions between India and China continue to simmer.
Infrequent user
Modi posted on ‘Sina Weibo’ for the first time in 2015 during a visit to China. However, the Indian PM has been an infrequent user of the app. He had more than 200,000 followers and 100 posts before the account was shut.
Closure announced
‘Sina Weibo’ announced the closure of the account late on Wednesday. The removal comes a few days after India banned dozens of Chinese apps, including Sina Weibo and ‘ByteDance’s’ ‘TikTok’. It was done following the border clash between India and China.
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The Indian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
Modi was among a handful of foreign leaders with a Weibo account. Others include Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Justin Trudeau of Canada, and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.
Birthdays revealed
Notably, Modi revealed the birthdays of both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang by wishing them ‘Happy Birthday’ on Weibo. The discussion of senior leaders’ private lives is extremely rare in China. Birthdays of most Chinese leaders are not revealed publicly.
In contrast, Chinese leaders are rarely active on social media. Foreign social media platforms such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ are blocked in China.
Move lauded
In a separate development former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley hailed India’s action to ban 59 apps linked to Chinese firms. She said New Delhi is continuing to show it will not back down from China’s aggression.
“Good to see India banning 59 popular apps owned by Chinese firms, including TikTok. It counts India as one of its largest markets. India is continuing to show it won’t back down from China’s aggression,” Haley tweeted.
The Indian government Monday announced that it had decided to block 59 apps.