Nepal Sells Tibetan's Rights to the Chinese
Peter Terpstra
leader to visit Nepal since the Maoists were elected, has just made a visit to
Nepal. Here is an excerpt from the press release of Nepali’s Foreign Ministry
relative to his visit:
"The two Foreign Ministers reviewed regional and international issues of
mutual concern and agreed to cooperate in the international forums for
promoting their common interests. The Chinese side appreciated the
reaffirmation of Nepal's 'One China Policy' and its principled stand of not
allowing its territories to be used against China. The Chinese Foreign
Minister extended invitation to the Nepalese Foreign Minister to pay an
Official visit to China at a mutually convenient time.
On the occasion, the Government of the People's Republic of China agreed to
provide the Government of Nepal with a grant of RMB 100 million (Renminbi Yuan
one Hundred Million only) equivalent to Nepalese Rs. 1.2 billion
approximately. To this effect, an Agreement on Economic and Technical
Cooperation between the Government of Nepal and the Government of the People's
Republic of China was also signed by the Foreign Ministers of the two
countries. According to the Agreement the grant is to be used for projects to
be discussed and decided upon by the two Governments of Nepal and China."
What does this mean? Nepal is home to over 20,000 Tibetan refugees. In the
period preceding the Olympics, authorities there banned protests by Tibetan
exiles and detained hundreds of protesters, but Tibetan exiles in Nepal
continued to demonstrate against the Chinese occupation of Tibet almost daily.
The result of this were the arrests of over 10,000 Tibetan protesters.
After his meeting with Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the Chinese
foreign minister praised Nepal for their crack down on protests by Tibetan
exiles, which also helped the Chinese in taking the Olympic torch to the top
of Mount Everest. He also promised a $15 million grant to Nepal and responded
optimistically to a request for $200 million more in the form of a soft loan,
promised to expedite the construction of a road on the border linking Nepal
with Tibet in order to boost trade and tourism, to aid Nepal's infrastructure
development, road transport, expanding railway from Tibet to Nepal and provide
more scholarships for Nepalese students to study in China. China is already
major donor to Nepal. It has helped the government with roads, hydroelectric
plants, and hospitals.
Interestingly, at the same time it praised the government of Nepal for
cracking down on Tibetans, China also pledged to provide training and
security-related equipment to Nepal - to strengthen Nepal's security
situation, according to Nepali Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav, who also
stated, "We respect each other's interests and sensitivities and Nepal has
always been upholding the principle of a One China policy."
"Nepal is an excellent neighbor, friend and partner of China," the Chinese
minister said after the meeting.
Sources:
http://www.nepalmonitor.com/2008/12/after_india_its_chinas_turn_in_nepal.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gjGXhRe0hI6lB1Y9_SmO6HrgnghgD94R40PG0
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/EC2C3A9F44939F8065257514004DE3EB?OpenDocument
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-36846220081203?sp=true
--
Amnesty International Report 2009 on China:
http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/china