China in the firing line with netizens

Hyderabad: Following China’s rejection of India’s proposal to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, an anti-China campaign has been started over the web calling for a ban on Chinese products.

Social media like Facebook and Twitter are abuzz with messages seeking a ban on Chinese products. Several groups on WhatsApp are circulating pictures and messages requesting group members not to use Chinese products.

Apart from text messages, combinations of the same text with photographs of China’s President Xi Jinping and Masood are being circulated on FB and WhatsApp. Netizens requested on Twitter that the Centre must impose a ban on Chinese products to teach that country a lesson.

A range of Chinese products like mobile phone batteries, pen drives, mini SD cards, storage devices, toys, electronic goods and domestic appliances are popular as they are inexpensive. Their quality has always been dodgy.

Mr Mohammad Saleem from Jagdish Market said that a decade ago mobile phone batteries were being supplied from Finland, Japan and Korea, which were costlier. “After the introduction of Chinese batteries, the cost was reduced by four times. Now, all mobile phone manufacturers depend on Chinese batteries. Accessories like mobile skins, ear phones, power banks and  touch screens are being supplied at very cheap cost from China,” he said.

Mr Avinash from Gujaratigalli market said that products ranging from music players to DVD players and ear phones to speakers with woofers had become cheap after the Chinese manufactured these products. “A Chinese DVD player costs around Rs 1,000 while a branded one with the same features costs upward of Rs 3,500,” he said.