Is Nepal ignoring China?

Dirty games in Sino-Nepal relations

Let me begin by uttering a common reality. Sino-Nepal relation is many centuries older to the origin of the US as a state and India as an integrated nation. Once when I was invited to a talk by an Indian instate, the moderator said with great praise but with the caveat- "Our speaker comes from a tiny country with whom we have brotherly relationship". This obsession of Indians' understanding of relationship with Nepal is pervasive which has been spilled over in a recent book written by a former ambassador.

At the beginning of my speech, I dared to ask one of the audiences right in front of me. 'Gentleman, can you please tell me how many days it takes for the journey on foot from Delhi to Kanyakumari?' He was generous enough to respond to my question quickly. 'It will take more than a month, certainly.' Then I said, 'If one Nepali begins his/her journey from Kanchanjangha, the eastern last point of Nepal's border at the mountain to reach Dadeldhura, the Western last point, it will take more than six months.' It means in that respect, Nepal is bigger than India. In my opinion, judging a nation by its territory is the job of a jerk, not an intellectual. Moreover, I once read a leaflet written by Thomas Paine, an American anti-colonialism revolutionary. He wrote that Gorkha defeated the British colonial force (in Sindhulighadi), a great inspiration for the American revolutionary to fight against British colonialism.

Nepal is not a country that originated after the First or Second World War—it is a representative of nations that continued living as a nation without uninterrupted history. Nepali politicians must start building their patriotism when making decisions about diplomacy and international affairs at this very point. In this history, China is a nation that has been closely associated with Nepal since nations were still in infancy in their international relations. The relations between the Nepali and Chinese people date back two millennia.

State-level relations between these two countries began over 1400 years, marked by cooperation between two countries to rescue detained Chinese scholars from Magadh, the Tea-Horse Road connecting two countries and initiating tea trade, Nepal's Buddhist scholar going to teach Buddhism in China, and Nepalese artists visiting China to build Pagoda temples. Except for one mishap during the late 18th century, the relations between China and Nepal are politically smooth, culturally closer, and economically flourishing. But the transgression of colonialism in Nepal and China destroyed the relations between the two countries and went to low ebb, only rising again in the 1950s.

Since the 1950s, Nepal and China became able to restore their historical relations, and, since then, they have been deeply trusting friends. However, something foul is being smelt in the current past. Over the last three years, Nepal's diplomatic relation seems diametrically shifting from its traditional balance between two giant neighbours to an Indo-Western closeness. Some Nepali politicians are even blaming that Nepal's sky is seeing foreign interference, implicitly accusing China. This accusation is false. It is an outcome of anger for the failure of getting the MCC agreement through from Nepal's House of Representatives. Such blame represents nothing other than a sheer fallacy. Not China, but the Nepali people are agitating against the MCC agreement because it has some vital issues against the national interests of Nepal. In this wake, some people are trying to take advantage by diverting issues against China-Nepal relationship.

Not China, but the Nepali people are agitating against the MCC agreement because it has some vital issues against the national interests of Nepal. In this wake, some people are trying to take advantage by diverting issues against China-Nepal relationship.

If they succeed in doing so, it will have many unwanted bearings on the peoples of Nepal and the country itself. As we are so abundantly aware, Sino-Nepal relations ascended to a new height with Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Kathmandu in 2019. This visit was long-awaited by the people of both countries. Some misdeeds had been carried out for delaying the visit. However, they failed. When the visit took place, two closely connected neighbours were happy and, consequently, took advantage to sign several agreements, particularly focusing on furthering economic cooperation between two countries. These agreements caused a headache for many.

After 2015, when Nepal completed the protracted process of Constitution-making, both countries believed that the economic cooperation between them would rapidly expand. In the past, Nepal's political instability posed a serious hurdle for expanded economic cooperation between the two countries. China won Nepal's love by its generous support to rescue Nepali people from the devastation of the 2015 deadly earthquake. Soon after the earthquake's devastation, India imposed an embargo, blatantly objecting to the newly made Constitution. Hardship faced by common people was unimaginable due to shortage of fuel, foods, medicines, and many other essential commodities. Nepal's trade suffered terribly which forced Nepal to seek an option to end its transit dependence on India. This crisis brought the Transit and Transport Treaty between China and Nepal. The era of dependence on India in transit ended.  The Indo-Western mission of keeping Nepal in 'controlled instability' saw a challenge. Consequently, the strategy of getting Nepal into the Indo-Pacific strategy began meticulously and rapidly. Preventing Nepal from economic cooperation with China was the designated goal of this strategy.   

Nepal-Tibet cultural and spiritual connections

The author had a chance to visit Tibet when Nepal's Constitution-making process was nearing completion. In a dinner meeting with several colleagues in Lhasa, the People's Procurator of the Autonomous Region of Tibet sincerely hoped that the trade between Nepal and Autonomous Region Tibet would be expanded hugely after the new Constitution's promulgation. It would be enhanced by Lhasa-Shigatse-Kerung-Kathmandu high-speed railway, he opined. In Tibet, common people's aspiration to visit Nepal as a holy land, as many people said, was high. In Kerung, an older woman, holding my daughter in her arm, said she wanted to visit Lumbini before she died, and she wanted to go to Lumbini by train. In the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, the author received special treatment from the Lamas when they acknowledged that I was from Kathmandu. They surrounded me and captivatingly listened to my story of Bhrikuti's marriage to Tibetan king Songstan Gampo and Nepal's help, through Bhrikuti, to develop Tibet's script and construct Jokhang Temple, Potala Palace, and many more monasteries in various locations in Tibet.

After marriage, Bhirikuti took many rare Buddhist scriptures as gifts from Nepal, and, most importantly, Buddhist culture and spiritual lifestyle flourished tremendously in Tibet. The legacy of Nepalese Buddhist tradition continued reaching Kerung, Shigatse, and Lhasa, thus forming a new peaceful and meditative culture in Tibet. This kingdom encountered a series of terrible bloodshed and conflicts before her marriage. King Songstan Gampo's father himself was poisoned and murdered. But daring Songstan unified the broken Tibet and emerged as the significant king under the Tang Dynasty's suzerainty.  When the Tang emperor integrated Korea, King Sonsgtan went to pay tribute to the Emperor. He received a kind and generous welcome—he was given away the daughter of the Emperor to marry. He had then two wives—one from Nepal and another from China.

Nepal's role in building the Tibetan Buddhist culture was immense and is still praised and honoured even by very common or grassroots people.

Anyone who visits Jokhang Temple will find Bhrikuti sitting on the right side of Songstan with her attire of Choubandi Choli (women's upper garment) and the Nepali Khasto (shawl) on her head. She looks gorgeous. Dr. Govinda Kusum has just finished writing a novel about her, which uncovers many forgotten stories and contributes to building a culture of peace in Tibet. Nepal's role in building the Tibetan Buddhist culture was immense and is still praised and honoured even by very common or grassroots people. After 12 years of meditation in Kathmandu, Buddha Guru Padma Sambhava left for Tibet. He took copies of many Buddhist philosophical scriptures with him. He enriched the Tibetan Buddhist culture vastly. Undoubtedly, Padma Sambhava's teaching in Tibet was rooted in Nepalese Buddhist culture that flourished since the Lichhavi era. The author has made many reflections on all these hidden facts in Nishangkoch Abhibyakti, an autobiographical book. These few instances will abundantly shed light on the level of Nepal's communication with its northern neighbour.

Sino-Nepal relations are historically nuanced

In the beginning, Nepal became more closely linked with China through good offices in Tibet. Indeed, the people of Tibet were (and are) immensely closer to Nepalese people culturally. For them, mainland China and Nepal are equally important—in Purang Country, some people say that they are too lucky to have the blessing of seeing Nepal's land every day, a land of Sakyamuni. For them, Nepal is the land of Buddha. For the people of Western Nepal, Ngari is a city like Lhasa for the people in Kathmandu because it provides them with an easy market. In Purang County, most Tibetan speak the Nepali language, and it provides jobs to many Nepalese peoples. The people-to-people connectivity between the two countries is thicker, which is unknown to political elites in Kathmandu. All these stories reflect a reality that Nepal and China are culturally linked, and this link is glued by the culture which people of Nepal and Tibet share.

In 648, the first Chinese mission, under the Tang dynasty, came to Nepal via Kerung. Until then, China and Nepal were connected through Pamir, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. In 645, China faced invasion of the Islamic militants, who crossed to central Asia and Western China after they took over Iran. They captured Hotan, the Silk Road's origin point in China, which provided a common centre for South Asia, Arab and Central Asia, and China. This point was an amalgamation of South Asian, Chinese, and Arabian civilizations. But due to Islamic militants' mission of capturing Western China, the Silk Road moving from Hotan to westward became disturbed, forcing the Tang Emperor to explore another route. Hence, Wang Xuance, a Tang Court's military General, led a mission to Nepal via Lhasa to explore a new branch of the Silk Road leading to South Asia and the further West. His mission arrived at Kerung, but Nepal's ruler stopped it from entering Nepal's territory.

The reason was simple. Nepal's king Udyadeva and his family were taking refuge at Lhasa due to the capture of Nepal's throne by an Avir general, who ruled then by installing a baby king on the throne after deposing Udyadeva. Avir General feared attack for the favour of Udayadeva from Tibet. Therefore, he suspected foul about Chinese mission. Hence, the mission coming to Nepal was stopped at the border. Probably for that reason, the Tibetan King Songstan supported Udayadeva's son Narendradeva to regain his throne, which became a prelude to Bhrikuti's marriage, perhaps. Around 1950, the mission arrived in Kathmandu and lived for nine months as the guests of King Nerendradeva. In this time, Nepal learned to manufacture paper from a native plant called Allo. During the winter, the mission moved out for Pataliputra, the capital of Magadh, with whom the Tang Emperor wanted to flourish trade and spiritual relations.

This mission was unscrupulously held at Tirahut, Nepal-Magadh border at that time, by Arjuna, a dissident General of Magadh Emperor, who had recently died, allegedly survived by a mentally feeble son. The members of the mission were captured, intimidated, tortured, and three of them killed. They were robbed and detained atrociously. However, Wang succeeded in escaping and returning to Kathmandu to ask for help. Then, he went to Lhasa with the help of Nepal's king and returned with Tang Emperor's letter for Nepal's king to help rescue the detained monks, government officials and scholars. Tibet's king gave him 1,800 cavalrymen. Upon arrival at Kathmandu, Narendradev led the troops of 7,000 cavalries, along with the Tibetan forces. The troops attacked Arjuna's force and defeated him. They rescued the detained Chinese scholars and monks. Culprit Arjuna was captured and brought to Kathmandu to be sent to Xian with Wang for punishment of his crimes. Nepal and China became close friends after this time.

Nepal and China have economic, political, and cultural relations dating back to the 7th century—hence, the two countries have long mutual economic, cultural, and political relations.

In 652, Narendradeva's eldest son Skandadev led a mission from Nepal to Xian, which the Tang court overwhelmingly welcomed. Since then, Nepal and China established sending missions to each other's courts, though it sometimes interrupted. Kathmandu emerged as a centre for learning Buddhism both for Chinese and Tibetan scholars, especially after Arabians invaded and colonized India. In Tibet, the Sakya sect began ruling, until the Gelug sect, the sect from which Dalai Lama emerged. After Skandaeva's visit, a Nepali artists' team went to Xian to paint Thangka pictures into caves. The Silk Road began to take shape, which is famously known as Tea Horse Road. All these exchanges established a closer connection between Nepal and China, both culturally and economically.

Nepal and India have had official relations only after Sugauli Treaty; the only official relation we have in the record before that time is the Boundary Treaty between the Government of Nepal and the East India Company in 1801. However, Nepal and China have economic, political, and cultural relations dating back to the 7th century—hence, the two countries have long mutual economic, cultural, and political relations. Sino-Nepal relations were disturbed by British colonial rulers as they prevented the Ranas from having closer relations with China. China also suffered setbacks during the Qing dynasty due to European invasions and opium wars. Anyway, the Ranas kept sending missions to China every five years until 1906 but the main goal was to sell opium. Hence, the Rana missions to China went with loads of opium biscuits. 

Emerging Indo-Western pact against Nepal-China relations

Against that extended history, can the Indo-Western pact disturb these long and dependable relations between two countries?  Of course not! China and Nepal's relation is not treaty-driven; rather, it is driven by cultural feelings and historical facts. Two countries have many cultural connectors besides economic relations. Two major emotional connectors make people of China and Nepal feel close similarity. The British colonizers invaded China, killed many peoples, and introduced opium as a commodity to make money. The opium addiction ruined China both politically and economically. The Qing Emperor attempted to fight back, but it lost the war, thus making China pay indemnity forever. That is how the colonial West plundered China. People paid indemnity for hundred years, which turned China bankrupt.

Similarly, the British colonizers attacked Nepal, robbed its larger territory, and colonized people by obliging them to serve the colonial regime. The practice continues until now, and Nepal's politicians shamelessly describe that colonial practice as a bridge for the relations between the UK and Nepal. That way, China and Nepal faced humiliations and subjugation of their sovereignty. These painful past experiences make the people of both countries understand each other's psyche easily. Second, both countries' spiritual psychology, the love for peace, owes to Buddha. Hence, Buddha is a shared philosopher and spiritual leader in both countries. Buddha was born in Nepal and became a great guru in China, similar to Confucius and Lao Tzu.

Both Nepal and China share the same interests that 'Nepal must economically develop and China's flourishing economy' must benefit Nepal's development.

These two psychological factors intuitively bring China and Nepal to share a platform of similar interests. For China, a developed Nepal is the genuine aspiration of the Nepali people who have undergone difficulty and poverty for a long time. Colonial and feudal rulers robbed them. Hence, China wants wellbeing of Nepali people by ending the painful past—it wants Nepal to develop and benefit from the development of China; it is ready to enhance investment in Nepal through the Belt and Road Initiative framework agreement which recognizes the capital value of the Nepali natural resources, environment, and labour as investments from the side of Nepal. In the options of the Chinese leaders and think tanks, a developed Nepal will have further closer relations with China. Nepal's development will open more gates for Chinese people for pilgrimage and spiritual peace in Nepal and India.

Second, developed Nepal will address the security threat against China from Nepal's territory. Of course, a developed Nepal will not be a heaven for anti-China game makers. Hence, both Nepal and China share the same interests that 'Nepal must economically develop and China's flourishing economy' must benefit Nepal's development. During the warring period, Nepal gave Chinese people peace philosophy of Buddha and helped address violence—the Chinese society benefited from Buddhist preaching against wars and violence. Present Nepal is economically poor, and rich China can rescue Nepal by providing generous investment and transit-transport facilities.

Can Indo-Pacific strategy harm Nepal-China relations against this rich past of relation between two countries? The answer may be both yes and no. It may be no because their relations stand for at least 1400 years old, so it is too strong to sabotage. The Indo-Pacific strategists understand this reality subtly. Hence, they may refrain from doing such things that provoke people of two countries against their machinations. What will they do, then? Probably, they may apply one of the two alternative strategies to harm Nepal-China relations. First, they may subtly use Nepali politicians to mistrust and detach China, as they now are doing, by meticulously undermining Nepal-China relations. The issue of the ambassadors' appointment is an example. We can see it from the Nepali Government's deliberate attitude of overlooking the need of appointing an ambassador to China while doing that for the US, the UK, and India—the Government of Nepal conspicuously bypassed China. The Government act regarding the appointment of ambassadors gave a dire message to all that China does not stand at par with India, America, and Britain's significance in Nepal's development and diplomacy. Those playing behind curtains succeeded in influencing the Government to do this stupid act. They utilized the muddled Government to undermine Nepal-China relations deceptively.

The politicians of Nepal forget to grasp that the theory of 'stealing Nepal from its traditional relations with China' would be costly for Nepalese people and Nepal's independence if it succeeds in its goal.

Those engaged in supporting Dalai Lama's agents in Kathmandu, including helping them collect arms and hiding in so-called sacred shrines, succeeded in deluding the Government regarding the importance of Nepal's relations with China. The government officials know about it but keep their eyes closed. As everybody knows, over the last few years, anti-China manoeuvres have mushroomed in Kathmandu. The successive Governments of Nepal are overlooking this fact either. This strategy was very shrewdly coined to alienate China. Second, they may do what they call 'to steal Nepal from its traditional geopolitical diplomacy with China and India' by pulling towards Indo-Western pact.' Ranjit Rae's book Kathmandu Dilemma has adequately propelled the signposts of this strategy.  

The politicians of Nepal forget to grasp that the theory of 'stealing Nepal from its traditional relations with China' would be costly for Nepalese people and Nepal's independence if it succeeds in its goal. Everybody knows, in the absence of China's liberation in 1949 and its rise to become a significant international player, Nepal's independence would have faced a terrible time. To convert it into an Indian vassal or suzerain nation, the Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, during the 1950s, proposed Chinese Primer Zhou Enlai to keep China out of relations with Nepal and allow India to control Nepal under a banner of special relations. He said to Chinese Premier that 'China must allow India to have a special privilege upon Nepal similar to that was enjoyed by the British colonial government vide 1923 treaty.'

Premier Zhou flatly rejected the proposal saying that Nepal is an independent country, historically. Nehru then attempted to persuade him to refrain from having diplomatic relations with Nepal. Premier Zhou also rejected that proposal since China had a policy of non-discrimination among sovereign nations. The last proposal was that China should not open an independent diplomatic mission in Kathmandu; the Chinese consulate at Calcutta must handle diplomatic affairs with Nepal. China rejected this proposal too by signing an agreement with Nepal to establish diplomatic relations between two countries. The people of Nepal owe to King Mahendra's wise decision in this regard. Nehru wrote the above descriptions in a report sent to the President of Socialist International after returning from the Indo-China trip.

India and Western countries are aggressively practicing the second strategy presently; while India's role is silent, the Westerners are visible and active. Some Western missions at Kathmandu have been nurturing active connections and communication with Dalai Lama's agents based in Kathmandu. Recently, the anti-China campaign has soared up in the name of promotional activities of MCC project, which Nepalese leaders have not dared to ratify for its supremacy over Nepalese law. Many other provisions such as Nepal should follow, against the Constitution, the open market economy, should not affect American laws and policies, including those to be issued in future, and take caution of not harming American jobs and investment. Most importantly, this strategy has pushed the BRI framework agreement into a low ebb—not a single agreement signed between China has been implemented. The Chinese investors are discouraged, and Chinese nationals working under China-supported projects are falsely accused and detained for a long time.

Lately, they have succeeded in garnering a border-encroachment issue. The Nepal-China Boundary Agreement requires a joint team to settle any border issue diplomatically if there are any. But going against the agreement, the Government of Nepal constituted a unilateral committee, thus challenging the very validity of the agreement, which was largely negotiated by BP Koirala. After this unwanted event, a fringe political party staged a rally against China in Kathmandu and burnt China's national flag. But the Government did nothing to stop such an act by a political party registered in Nepal's Election Commission. However, the Government of Nepal did not protest to its Indian counterpart about killing a Nepali national by the Indian border security force by disconnecting an ad-hoc suspension bridge (Tuin) measure to cross the Mahakali River between India and Nepal. The activities of the Nepali Government seem diplomatically naïve and objectionable.

China is a global power, Nepal's adjacent neighbour, and Nepal's most reliable development partner. What benefit will Nepalese politicians harvest by neglecting China in an era when China is a powerful nation globally? Nepal will be gaining nothing, at all, from this stupidity.

Do Nepalese politicians think spoiling relations with China will be good for Nepal? Probably they are ignorant of what is going undercurrent. China is a global power, Nepal's adjacent neighbour, and Nepal's most reliable development partner. What benefit will Nepalese politicians harvest by neglecting China in an era when China is a powerful nation globally? Nepal will be gaining nothing, at all, from this stupidity. It will virtually jeopardize its independence by spoiling relations with China. But intellectually deficit political parties do hardly understand this fact. They have very little realization that Nepal-China relations have gone to a low ebb because Nepal failed to understand China's security concerns in the wake of the rising Indo-Pacific strategy.

Over the recent past, both first and second strategies seem staggeringly moving ahead. Nepal's behaviours in border and ambassador appointment issues are highly undiplomatic and unsuitable, though China has not responded arrogantly and offensively yet. Nepal's sliding behaviours to Indo-pacific strategy seem gradually maturing, which began three years before during thenthen Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali's visit to America. On June 1, 2019, the Report of the US Defence Department indicated that Nepal had agreed to become a part of the Indo-pacific strategy. While Gyawali declined to accept the fact, the said report placed Nepal as the US partner under the banner of the Indo-pacific strategy. This report said that the US Indo-Pacific Military command had conducted two rounds of talks with Nepal's Government regarding the participation of the Nepal Army in the Indo-pacific command. Immediately, the Oli government's Finance Minister signed the MCC Operation Agreement and meticulously approached the House of Representatives for its ratification, which claims, under Article 7.1, that the agreement prevails over the domestic laws of Nepal, and implicitly the Constitution of Nepal because after this agreement the House of Representatives will forfeit its power to amend and annul the Development Committee Act, Taxation Law, and much other legislation.

When people of Nepal resented this agreement and intellectuals sharply criticized it, several media houses, the bureaucrats and consultants working for donor agencies after retirement, and several Nepali men and women holding foreign green cards launched massive anti-China propaganda collectively, saying that China is engaged to block the ratification of MCC agreement from the Parliament. The campaign extensively uses the Nepali taxpayers' money; this project's American contribution has not yet been released. All these perspectives suggest that Nepal-China relations are intentionally affected. The main goal behind such perspectives is to lower the significance of China's role in Nepal's development and steal Nepal from its traditional diplomacy of 'Panchasheel-based balanced relations between its giant neighbours.' Specifically, one of the purposes is to destroy the latest diplomacy that advocates for 'tri-literalism' in the development of Nepal.  This drive began soon after President Xi Jinping's momentous visit to Nepal.

Do Nepal's communist parties understand these meticulous but deceptive manoeuvres of anti-China agents in Nepal? There are many grounds for suspicions. Two communist partners of the present coalition government oversee this issue, but they are silent, interestingly. The former communist Government was visibly tilted to the West, despite its communist brand. Economically, it never believed the Chinese socialist economic model; the former Communist Government prioritized the neo-liberal economic drive. Three instances prove this allegation: First, it invited Western donors and international organizations emphatically to invest in Nepal and, for that, organized a mammoth investment conference in which China's role was belittled. Second, it stressed implementing MCC as a boon for the economic development of Nepal and ignored the BRI framework agreement entirely. Third, none of the projects conceived by several agreements during President Xi's visit were made operational –they were overlooked fully. Yet, China substantially helped provide the Covid-19 vaccines unstopped, and so far, millions of vaccine doses have been received and used.

Does China sense all these obnoxious new developments in Sino-Nepal relations? Global Times, an English Daily from China, published a critical article on MCC's possible impacts in Nepal. In some joint forums, some Chinese scholars critically presented their views on the increasing penetration of Indo-pacific strategy in Nepal, affecting China's security and Sino-Nepal relations. They gestured that China is carefully observing the development in Nepal. Does China seek hegemony in Nepal? The facts show that China is not seeking hegemony in Nepal. China is also increasingly becoming open to Nepal and the rest of the world and pursuing an inclusive and collaborative diplomacy. This development is plain from President Xi's address to World Trade Organization. He said, "We must stay on top of the prevailing trend of economic globalization, and support countries around the world in opening up wider while rejecting unilateralism and protectionism. This is significantly important if we are to take humanity to a better future." China's focus seems on a shared future and humanity, not colonialism and hegemony. 

The Communist Party of China just finished its 6th Plenum of the 19th Central Committee, in which it demonstrated a high degree of political awareness. The Plenum, held from November 8 to 11, 2021, highlighted the significance of building people's happiness and rejuvenating China, thus meaning that it has no goal to seek hegemony anywhere. According to the resolution adopted by the Plenum, China focuses on modernizing its socialist system. The modernization will stress on common prosperity of all and the path of peaceful development of China and the globe. It wants to dedicate its efforts to building a moderately developed socialist system by another centenary. According to the Chinese leadership, the CPC has a tradition of drawing from history. The resolution stresses the significance of the 'founding resolution and opening up resolution' of the party as guiding principles. These two resolutions do not seek anything that goes against peace and harmony. The resolution believes that peace and development will go in lock-steps.

The CPC's 19th CC plenum (6th) holds that the laws govern China, and a good democracy is what the people of that country believe so. Democracy is not something to be judged by a handful of people from other countries. The plenum resolution observes that Democracy in so-called democratic countries is hallowed, and more and more people are dissatisfied. Still, they want to impose their style of Democracy on other countries wantonly. According to Plenum's resolution, many polls show that an increasingly larger number of people, around 80 percent, find Democracy in the U.S. is unworkable.

Conversely, some Western polls show over 90 percent of Chinese people are satisfied with Chinese Democracy. The resolution says that China is not going to export democracy to another country. Of course, China neither during the Constitution-making nor during the elections attempted to influence Nepal's political processes. The allegation of some muddled people that China is influencing Nepal is a lie. 

Then why do some Nepali politicians see India and the West as more favourable? Why do they consider MCC is better than BRI? The answer is not hard to guess. A group of pseudo-intellectuals and media people in Nepal, who benefit from illegal and immoral benefits from outsiders' favour, influence the fragile minds of Nepali leaders against the national interests and people's longing for economic prosperity. They are busy creating an environment conducive to stealing Nepal from engaging with China for economic development. They are working for the outsiders' interests. 

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit via video. In his address, he stressed the aspirations for win-win cooperation and building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. He said that China would remain firm in advancing reform and opening up to add impetus to economic development in the region. He also said that China would remain committed to promoting win-win cooperation and contribute to the region's economic development.

A group of pseudo-intellectuals and media people in Nepal, who benefit from illegal and immoral benefits from outsiders' favour, influence the fragile minds of Nepali leaders against the national interests and people's longing for economic prosperity.

Most importantly, Xi said, "Working together, let us all be promoters of and contributors to the unity and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific family." Jeng Leong, a Brunei journo, said that peace and development are the common aspirations of people worldwide, while confrontation and conflicts are not. He added, China has always upheld the common interests of the world, practiced true multilateralism, and advocated the building of a community with a shared future for humankind.

It would be stupidity for Nepal to embroil into the Cold War. Nepal's leaders should not ignore that they may be scapegoats of someone's design leading to the Cold War situation. Neutrality to alliance and bloc has paid Nepal well Nepal in the past, and we must be ready to learn from it.  We must not forget that the diplomacy of Nepal is to engage two neighbours who are giants and powerful in our time. It is, therefore, time for Nepalese intellectuals to warn the docile leadership of Nepal from throwing themselves into a fire of controversy by belittling the relationship with traditional neighbour China. We must understand that we are always being pushed to a state of controlled instability by some outsiders.

Published on 14 November 2021