Diaspora flags social media abuse, visa curbs in China
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- Indian Embassy in Beijing hosted its first Open House in recent years on Friday, drawing Indian professionals across sectors in the capital to raise community concerns with senior mission officials.
- Diaspora members flagged a rise in abusive anti-India content on Chinese social media — including attacks on Indian food habits and culture — alongside a decline in job visas issued to Indian professionals, restrictions on spousal employment and consular service difficulties.
- Ambassador Vikram Doraiswami, who took charge in May, said the Chinese government was itself concerned about the rise in abusive online content and was taking steps to address it; the embassy said it would counter misinformation through its own social media handles.
- The embassy will simplify documentation for Chinese nationals applying for Indian visas starting next week, and is building a mechanism with legal professionals to assist Indians facing work-related issues.
- Doraiswami pledged regular future Open House interactions and more cultural events, citing strong past turnout for programmes like the annual Vasant Mela to showcase Indian culture and cuisine.
Why it matters: Indian professionals in China now have a reactivated Open House channel to escalate specific grievances — declining visa issuance, spousal work restrictions, online harassment — that bilateral diplomacy rarely surfaces publicly. Doraiswami's framing that Beijing itself views the anti-India content as problematic opens a narrow diplomatic opening for coordinated content moderation, while the streamlined Indian visa process for Chinese nationals represents a modest goodwill gesture on movement of people.
