Editorial

Nepal: China moves

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Telegraph Nepal
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Diplomacy has its own speed. Some play it fast, others take some time. Diplomacy has its own set of rules and standards. While some diplomats play it in a naked manner, others do it as per the rules of the host countries and abiding by the universal criterions set by the Geneva Convention. Some in the process even prefer to interfere in the internal affairs of the host country, while others watch the events carefully but keep their hands out from the inner politics of the host countries.

Better late than never, the Chinese too appear to have awakened from deep slumber. What they should have done decades earlier is being initiated now, it appears.

The incumbent Chinese Ambassador, Quo Guohang, apparently has taken the initiatives that he and his predecessors should have taken years ago. The fresh bid of the Chinese diplomat to see for himself the areas in Nepal’s West that border the autonomous region of China-the Tibet- is a welcome move in that these were the areas inside the Nepali territory that have had become a fertile ground for all the anti-China activities for some time in the past. Some politically motivated quarters, both from within and without, had been torturing China under one pretext or the other. The process or say the campaign to tease China had attained a new height when the India born-Girija Prasad Koirala was the Prime Minister of this country. As and when Koirala assumed the post of Nepal PM, anti-China activities have gone up, past experiences say.

The Chinese diplomat has the authority, as others have it, to see for himself those areas in Nepal and talk to the men residing in those areas and take note of the prevailing situation there and act what suits to the political health of his country.

The Chinese Ambassador’s direct conversation with the men residing in the areas is meaningful in that he is perhaps now aware of the reasons as to why those bordering areas could have become fertile grounds for anti-China elements. In the process, let’s presume, the Chinese envoy may have found out some clues as to which forces inside or even outside Nepal were hell bent on destabilizing his soil across the border. A primary idea that the clue may have provided the Chinese diplomat with could be on how to timely counter those forces should the situation so demanded.

Above all, the Chinese instant grant of one million rupees to the locals of Mustang will definitely go a long way which will surely act as a catalyst for the enhancement of Nepal-China bonds and concurrently dampen the nasty maneuvering of the anti-China elements sponsored by certain interested quarters inimical to China.

Sincere friends of China in Nepal will even suggest the Chinese Ambassador, Guohang, to go on in for a long tour of Nepal’s those areas which border Tibet in the North. He can begin his “see Nepal campaign” right from Sankhuwa Sabha in the eastern Nepal Mountains and continue his long journey up to Mustang, the place he recently visited.

Such a trip to the bordering areas will not only make him to understand as to which Nepali areas need the opening to Tibet for bilateral trade but will also allow him a chance to understand Nepalese life better. In the process, he can donate Chinese assistance and supports on sectors, for example, schools and health facilities much similar to what the Indian Ambassador frequently does. And by extension, such a trip, if initiated, might provide him some clues as to which portion of the Nepal side along the border were prone and vulnerable to anti-China activities.

Such an informal trip will benefit China more for obvious political reasons. The residents of the northern mountains in Nepal have several things in common with the people across the border. Opening of the Chinese border for trade and commerce at selected points, indeed with the permission of the Nepalese government, in more ways than one will increase the trade volume in between the two friendly countries. If Nepal will benefit from such opening of entry points, China will have huge opportunities to flood the Nepali markets with Chinese goods that are obviously cheaper than the Nepal’s customary market-India. Chinese goods suit to Nepali pockets and wallets,

In all, the ball now is in China’s court. How the Chinese regime exploits these benefits will have to be seen. By and large, the tour campaign that the Chinese envoy has just initiated will in many more ways than one benefit the Chinese regime. More so for the political health of Tibet, such occasional trips by the Chinese diplomats’ must continue. However, care must be taken that the diplomatic limits do not get crossed in the process. We the Nepalese are very sensitive in this regard.