Chinese vloggers filming Dhaka slums as New Delhi disappear after media exposure and police monitoring
After reports revealed that Chinese nationals were presenting footage of Dhaka's low-income neighbourhoods as scenes from India's capital, the vloggers stopped appearing in the area amid heightened surveillance by Bangladeshi authorities.
Scores of Chinese nationals who had been filming in Dhaka's Uttara and Tekpara neighbourhoods and presenting the footage as scenes from New Delhi have vanished from the streets, local reports said. Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo noted on November 11 that its reporters could not locate any of the vloggers in the area, and residents confirmed they had not seen the group for several days.
The disappearance follows a series of investigations by Bangladeshi media that documented more than 150 Chinese individuals livestreaming from the districts, describing the surroundings as "dirty" and "underdeveloped" while claiming they were in India's capital. Police and intelligence officers began checking the visitors' visas and passports and questioning the purpose of the activities, which were carried out on tourist visas.
Mohammad Khalid Mansur, officer-in-charge of Uttara West police station, told Prothom Alo that law-enforcement monitoring had led to a decline in the vloggers' presence. "Due to the activities of law enforcement agencies, such activities by Chinese nationals have decreased," he said.
India's Ministry of External Affairs also responded. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government had taken note of the Bangladeshi reports and called for appropriate action, adding that using another country's territory to spread false narratives was "unfortunate" and could damage the credibility of the perpetrators' own country.
The vloggers had been broadcasting on Chinese platforms such as WeChat and Douyin, with some claiming to promote products while filming in the neighbourhoods. One identified individual, a woman named Mianmian, described Uttara's Sector 12 as New Delhi and called the homes "dirty" and "unhygienic". Another, Wang Wei, alleged that locals drank tea made from "cow urine" and "dirty river water". The exact motive behind the misrepresentation—whether commercial gain or a coordinated disinformation effort—remains unclear.