Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter-like Weibo account in China went blank on Wednesday after his photo, posts and comments were removed from the handle.
Sina Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, said it has deleted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s account at the request of the Indian embassy, as tensions between the two countries continue to simmer over a border skirmish.
Since posting on Sina Weibo the first time in 2015 during a visit to China, PM Modi has been an infrequent user of the Chinese social media platform. He had more than 200,000 followers and 100 posts before the account were shut.
The removal of all information from Modi’s Weibo comes 10 days after at least three official Indian statements – including the PM’s – were deleted from the Indian embassy’s official account on the popular social media app, WeChat.
It could not be immediately ascertained when Modi’s Weibo handle was taken down but on Wednesday, the page was blank. It also comes in the backdrop of India banning 59 Chinese apps on Monday because of security and data breach concerns.
Mr. 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.
Notably, Mr. Modi revealed the birth dates of both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang by wishing them on Weibo. The discussion of senior leaders’ private lives is extremely rare in China and the exact birth dates of most of them 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.
On Wednesday, all information from Modi’s account – including his profile photo – was taken down. Modi’s Weibo account was set up in 2015 amid much fanfare and publicity before his first visit to China as prime minister. Since then the account had 244000 followers, many of them Chinese.
Since 2015, but barring this year, Modi had wished President Xi Jinping ahead of his birthday on June 15. He also published messages on Sino-India ties especially after meetings with Xi. Modi’s posts on Weibo were in Chinese. Also, An Indian embassy source said, “We are taking action to unsubscribe the account”.
