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This Week in AsiaPeople

As China and India quarrel, stranded families get caught in between

  • Cross-national families fear being further cut off from their loved ones after India bans WeChat and other Chinese apps
  • The pandemic’s border closures are also leading to uncertainty as to when families can see each other again

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Dipika Kantharia (right) has not seen her husband Mehul for months. Photo: Handout
Rajni GeorgeandLuo Ruiyao

For six months now, Naresh Subnani’s textile company in Shaoxing city, in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, has not received any orders. Few people have also been dining at his award-winning Indian-Chinese restaurant in the same city since the coronavirus outbreak began.

The 38-year-old businessman is among thousands of Indian nationals in China dealing with economic woes amid the pandemic – and with ties between New Delhi and Beijing at a new low following a deadly border clash last month, some are fearing a further impact on their livelihoods.

Subnani, who has lived in China for the past 17 years, says the “India-China problem” may have had some effect on his businesses, but he is confident the two sides will kiss and make up.

“India and China are like brothers,” he said. “They fight, they care, and should settle as brothers.”
Naresh Subnani and his family in Keqiao, Shaoxing city. Photo: Handout
Naresh Subnani and his family in Keqiao, Shaoxing city. Photo: Handout

For others, their China dreams – fuelled by the promise of higher incomes in a country with lower levels of crime and more advanced infrastructure – are already over.

One sales manager, who did not want to be named, said the uncertainty had driven him to quit China after four years there.

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