(TibetanReview.net, Oct21’24) –After a slowdown in activity for quite some time, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has resumed high-level visits to Nepal and received reassurance from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Oct 20 that no ‘anti-China activities’ will be allowed in the country, reported the kathmandupost.com and the PTI news agency Oct 20.
Controversially, a CPC delegation has called a meeting of Nepali political parties having presence in the country’s parliament without bothering to seek Kathmandu’s permission.
The assurance was given as a reaffirmation of the Himalayan nation’s commitment to China’s ‘One China’ policy, said the PTI report.
The ‘One China’ policy usually refers to China’s claim that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it as a way to counter the latter’s increasingly strident claim to be a separate sovereign entity. China claims that Taiwan is part of it and makes it mandatory for all the countries having diplomatic ties with it to follow the ‘One China’ policy.
However, in Nepal, the policy is more distinctively observed by cracking down on the Tibetan refugee community whenever it engages in any activity not approved by China. Besides, around 20,000 Tibetan refugees in the country have remained undocumented for decades as a result of pressure from China.
Oli, Chairman of the CPN (UML) and seen as the most pro-China leader of Nepal, has made the remarks in a meeting with a high-level Chinese delegation led by Chen Jining, a member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. The meeting took place at his official residence in Baluwatar, Kathmandu.
Reaffirming Nepal’s commitment to the ‘One China’ policy, Oli told the visiting delegation that no anti-China activities would be allowed to operate within Nepal’s territory, the report said.
Oli has also expressed hopes for continued support from China for Nepal’s economic development. He has underscored the role of the CPC and President Xi Jinping’s leadership in “alleviating poverty and driving holistic development in China” and expressed Nepal’s interest in benefiting from such advancements.
Chen, who is also the Secretary of the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, has reiterated China’s support for Nepal’s “happiness and prosperity”, adding Beijing will always respect decisions made by Nepal’s political parties.
Chen’s delegation was stated to include Penng Xiubin, director-general of International Department of CPC (IDCPC); Wang Zhizhong, director-general of Foreign Affairs Office (FAO), CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee; Liu Chang, deputy director-general of FAO, CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee; Zheng Dengke, director of Policy Research Office, CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee; Du DU Xiaoli, director of FAO, CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee; Zheng Youya, deputy director and Nepali Translator at IDCPC; Wang Siqi, deputy director at IDCPC; and Chen Yongpei, first-level principal staff member of IDCPC.
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Chen’s delegation had arrived in Kathmandu on Oct 19. Until that day, Zhang Meizhi, member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, and vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of Hebei Provincial People’s Congress (Vice Minister Level), was in Kathmandu, said the kathmandupost.com report.
The former arrived in Kathmandu on the day the latter left the country, the report said.
The Chen’s CPC delegation was stated to have invited at least 15 leaders each from all Nepali political parties that were represented in the country’s House of Representatives on Oct 20 to brief them about the outcome of the recent CPC Central Committee meeting held in Beijing.
Fourteen political parties are represented in Nepal’s 275-strong House of Representatives and the delegations’ visits were meant to strengthen party-to-party relationships between the two sides.
The Chinese side did not seek permission to hold the event, but informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about its plan to host the function, to be inaugurated by Narayan Dahal, chairman of the National Assembly, who was invited as the chief guest at the function, the report cited a ministry official as saying.
The 20th Central Committee of the CPC had convened its third plenary session in Beijing from Jul 15 to 18 earlier this year.
Chen had started meeting with top Nepali political leaders soon after his arrival, including Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the report said.