(TibetanReview.net, Dec18’25) – China asked Nepal to monitor the Tibetan refugees and also the latter’s citizens in northern districts for potential activities against it during outgoing Ambassador Chen Song’s farewell call on Prime Minister Sushila Karki on Dec 17, reported the kathmandupost.com Dec 18. It has also asked Kathmandu to exclude it and its entities from the ongoing massive Pokhara airport corruption investigation.
During the meeting, the Chinese envoy also asked the prime minister to check anti-China activity in Nepal, as well as activities of Tibetan refugees against China, as well as any other anti-China activities that may take place in Nepal’s northern districts, the report said.
Large sections of of the people in northern districts that border Tibet are ethically Tibetan or of Tibetan origin and practice Tibetan Buddhism. Nepal is also home to around 20,000 Tibetan refugees who remain undocumented due to China’s opposition to any sort of status or recognition being given to them.
The prime minister has responded by saying Nepal was committed to one-China policy and will not allow its soil to be used against any of its neighbours.
Chen had arrived in Kathmandu in early Jan 2023 for a three-year term, but is returning to Beijing on Dec 28 after getting a promotion. “We have heard that he got promoted to the post of director general and will return to Beijing by the end of this month,” a senior foreign ministry official has said.
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During the meeting, Chen has especially asked Nepal that China and Chinese entities not be implicated in the massive Pokhara airport corruption case, urging the prime minister to help in the matter. He has said that China CAMC Engineering Company, the airport contractor, is a state-owned entity and cannot be involved in corruption under Chinese law.
But the prime minister has replied that the CIAA (Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority) is independent and autonomous and she cannot intervene in its investigation.
CIAA filed a corruption case at the Special Court on Dec 7 against 55 individuals, including five former ministers and 10 former secretaries, as well as China CAMC Engineering Company, the contractor, over irregularities in the construction of Pokhara airport. This is reportedly the biggest corruption case filed at the Special Court in terms of the cash involved under a state procurement process.
The anti-corruption body has determined that Rs 8.36 billion should be recovered from each of the 56 defendants, the largest financial penalty to date. The final sentencing, however, will be determined by the court.
China has listed the Pokhara airport as a flagship project under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Under the project’s MoU, Nepal received a loan from China EXIM Bank, of which 25% is interest-free. Interest on the remaining amount was set at 2% annually. The repayment period has been set at 20 years, including a seven-year grace period.