(TibetanReview.net, Jul30’26) – China’s state media has on Jul 29 expressed support for Nepal’s communist party leaders’ outlandish claim that allowing Tibetans to mark the Dalai Lama’s birthday even out of public view, in a school compound, on Jul 6 was a violation of the country’s one-China policy. Nepal has for years been criticised by the international community for its overly rough treatment of the Tibetan refugee community at China’s behest, preventing them even from marking the birthday of their exile spiritual leader and the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate, the Dalai Lama.
“In the past, the government of Nepal had denied formal authorization for such events. This time, however, the Kathmandu District Administration Office appears to have granted permission to hold the program on the school premises,” China’s official globaltimes.cn Jul 29 quoted Dev Prasad Gurung, a member of the NCP (Nepali Communist Party) Central Working Coordination Committee and chief of the party’s Law and Justice Department, as saying in an interview.
It was earlier reported by english.nepalnews.com Jul 5 that the Kathmandu District Security Committee, chaired by Chief District Officer Ishwar Raj Paudel, had banned public rallies, assemblies, and poster demonstrations on Monday (Jul 6) to prevent ‘Free Tibet’ activities during the Dalai Lama’s birthday.
There was no mention in the report of any formal authorization of the event being held indoor, as suggested by Gurung, although this might have been taken as implied.
The event was held on Jul 6 at Namgyal School in Kathmandu’s Swayambhu area and was organized by members of the Tibetan community in Nepal. Those who reportedly attended it included representatives from the United States, France, Australia and the European Union, as well as the UN refugee agency, which appears to have piqued the Nepali communists and China.
The report said seven former Nepali ambassadors to China had issued a joint statement expressing concern over the event and the participation of representatives from foreign diplomatic missions.
The former ambassadors were stated to have recalled Nepal’s longstanding adherence to the one-China principle and its commitment not to allow its territory to be used for activities that could harm the interests of friendly countries.
They have warned that if the event had been held with the government’s consent, it could have adverse implications for Nepal’s adherence to the one-China principle and its friendly relations with China.
According to Gurung, as cited by the globaltimes.cn report, allowing the Namgyal School event was a violation of Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal’s assurance to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Jun 15 that Kathmandu was firmly commitment to the one-China principle, with the pledge that Nepali territory would not be allowed to be used for any activities against China.
“The government displayed a dual nature by permitting the Dalai Lama’s birthday to be celebrated openly,” Gurung has said, adding, “We have been continuously protesting against this policy inconsistency.”
Gurung has alleged that Nepal’s state apparatus had long been dominated by what he has described as “Indo-Western interests.”
“Following the Gen Z revolution in Kathmandu on Sep 8 and 9, 2025, the government has been on a trajectory toward becoming a puppet of these Indo-Western interests,” he was quoted as saying. “We have been unable to rectify this situation.”
He has assured China that the NCP would continue to prioritize the development of bilateral relations with it in the years ahead as it remains essential to Nepal’s future prosperity, making it clear who really is playing puppet to whom.
The globaltimes.cn Jul 29 also carried a lengthy commentary by a Kathmandu-based Nepali researcher named Karna Upadhyay, saying of the Namgyal School event: “sometimes the biggest signals come from the smallest rooms,” that “this July, inside a school compound in Kathmandu, a birthday cake was cut for the 91-year-old Dalai Lama”; and that the event “looked like a modest affair — until the cameras, the ambassadors, and the headlines made clear it was anything but.”