Sikkim standoff: How affected are Chinese firms in India amid calls of boycott?

The protracted tensions between India and China over the Sikkim standoff have failed to have much of an effect on Chinese firms in India, according to Chinese media. 

A Chinese media report has said that such firms are "largely unaffected" by the standoff, a day after the daily warned that boycotting Chinese goods may backfire on India. 

There have been calls from many quarters in India — including the RSS — to boycott Chinese goods that are flooding the Indian market as a show of nationalism and in an effort to get China top back off from the standoff.

Even yoga guru Ramdev has called for a similar ban on Chinese goods in India.

'Haven't been impacted'

Lü Qingyong, who heads the India operations of the Sichuan Jinwangtong Electronic Science and Technology Co, told the Global Times: "We haven't been impacted at the moment."

However, he was quick to clarify that this is because the cables they make are snapped up primarily by corporations rather than some individuals. 

The report also quoted a "Chinese businessman who has been helping Chinese firms in the Indian market for nearly a decade" as saying that the Indian government "is very pragmatic."

He also said Delhi knows that a "resurgence of such voices [calling for boycott of Chinese goods] in the country isn't conducive to solving the [Sikkim standoff] issue."

Some delays and fears

However, the same businessman expressed fears that certain firms may be impacted soon. He said: "Companies like OPPO and Vivo that directly face consumers might be affected a little."

This might not be good news for the aforementioned companies and some others, which are doing really good business in India.

Bangalore Chinese Chamber of Commerce secretary general Hu Tu highlighted another effect of the call for ban on or boycott of Chinese goods in India. "Most companies might be slowing their business and watching the situation closely, but they wouldn't announce anything negative just yet," he said.

He added: "It's natural that there are some people who delay their return to India [from China] or some companies delay some of their unimportant businesses."

Hu also said that some Chinese nationals working in India have expressed fears of their safety given the prevalence of tensions along the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction in Doklam in Sikkim. 

There have been some incidents of violence against Chinese nationals in India: A China-based businessman was robbed of Rs 2.5 lakh (around $3,900) in Delhi, while another Chinese man was stabbed by five people in Bengaluru — erstwhile Bangalore. 

However, in neither case is it apparent that they were targeted because of their nationality. The Delhi incident seems to be a simple case of robbers honing in on a man with money, while in the Bengaluru case the Chinese national was stabbed multiple times because he tried to stop a robbery.