NP Upadhyaya- Give it any name. You can call it increasing influence or may take it as mild interference. You may even call it placid penetration associated with arrogance. The choice is yours.
The fact is that China has already entered Nepal in a much more big way than anyone may have imagined ever. That China is here in Nepal for all time to come is for sure. However, how this country-the Big Guy- behaves with this ant is of our prime concern and the alarm is genuine.
The fact is also that, and we can’t dismiss it, China had to make its entry in Nepal because she felt the need that Nepal if left to the mercy of the Southern elephant as usual beginning 1950s, this country will cease to exist in the world atlas.
That China is here is a matter of great interest and consolation to the Nepali population who have had to bear for decades and decades with the “big-brother phenomenon” hoping that China, shall lessen the Indian tendency in the years to come if not totally bring to an end the Indian hegemony that is there even as of today.
Nepal as a nation-state have had to invite China, the Northern neighbor for striking a geo-strategic balance as Nepal’s location is such that neither we can exhibit our tilt towards South nor even North. In addition, the South always took Nepal as a nation which possesses the much publicized China Card only to tease the Indian establishment. Nepal may or may not have played China card, however, what is for sure is that Nepal always counted on China in times of her crisis, however, China, as a shrewd nation ever looked upon its own strategic interests first and thus many a times ditched Nepal whenever she demanded assistance from the Northern neighbor most. Some even went to the nearby Kathmandu jungles because of Chinese preference.
By and large, China is here. Most welcome. However, this welcome is conditional in that we just need China to act as a political deterrent but not as a nation that adds more trouble to this already troubled nation. We have had enough of such troubles and Nepali population would prefer not to add more problems, if any in the pipeline from the Chinese side with their strong presence that is already here. We understand as to what India means to Nepal, it is our gained experience and also know how this country at times twists the Nepali arms, and the same perhaps the nationalist Nepali population would not prefer, rather hate if that comes from the Dragon side. There should be distinct and visible difference between the attitudes of the neighbor which wants its presence in Nepal.
That China is eyeing Nepal simply to look into the entire South Asian region and then beyond remains no longer a secret. China’s pouring in colossal amount of money in Nepal should remain limited to what could be taken as an act of benevolence, however, if that compassion towards Nepal is aimed at further destabilizing this beleaguered nation under this or that pretext then we may have to salute China and tell Beijing No thanks please as enough has already become too much.
But the Dragon shall not heed to Nepal’s polite and modest requests has come to the fore with the kind of what could also be taken as “Insult-the Chinese style” which, as some attending participants told this paper on how the visiting Chinese foreign minister Mr. Wang, left the dinner venue without even talking to some high profile Nepali leaders including some former Prime Ministers. The dinner had been arranged by the local Chinese embassy in the name of the Nepal’s guest minister Wang. The man who invited the Nepali guests himself vanished from the dinner place and quietly sneaked inside the Chinese embassy for enjoying apparently a special banquet, writes the vernacular Ghatana Ra Bichar Weekly, dated 31 December 2014, which was an act that sufficiently indicates as to how China in the days ahead will behave with the Nepali leaders and the nation-state. (Read the front page article of this weekly). The sad disrespect that it surely was, the weekly writes, had happened on December 25, 2014.
We have had heard that Chinese hospitality is one of the best in the world, however, this more or less insulting act exhibited by the Chinese visiting minister together with his “domestic” team neither could be digested easily nor it could be taken in compliance with the established diplomatic norms.
High placed sources claim that the Chinese foreign minister preferred not to talk with even one single Nepali leader to the extent that the Nepali foreign minister could not even get a mere second to thank in return for the Chinese Himalayan assistance granted to Nepal this time around. The attending leaders though wanted to mingle with the visiting guest and share their experience and perhaps also wanted to know the Chinese views as regards the Nepali politics. This is the general practice that a foreign dignitary when invited in a foreign country, more so to a neighboring country like Nepal for example, prefers to talk to the local leaders to enhance or for that matter gain knowledge about the host country’s politics. However, this did not happen to the utter dismay of the attending participants who must have taken this particular act as an abuse of the highest order.
Unsubstantiated reports have it that the Chinese Foreign Minister wanted to remain for long inside the dinner place at Hotel Yak and Yeti and mingle with the Nepali leaders, however, the high level Chinese embassy officials did not allow their minister to stay longer at the banquet place for some mysterious reasons.
All these put together, President Xi Jinping’s notion of “Chinese dreams” and neighborhood policy and many more ambitious plans that he has in his mind got a severe jolt in Nepal, and the fault surely now lay with the Chinese establishment. How the Chinese President personally takes this Nepali insult by his men and corrects this tentatively a blunder will have to be watched. He should go deep into the matter. Healing the insult is must if China wishes to improve her relations with Nepal in an amicable manner as is being made known to the neighboring Nepal and its population. Beijing must comprehend Nepali sensitivity that we possess in abundance if she wants the same gracious treatment in the future in turn. Mistakes demand immediate corrections. China may lose its real friends in Nepal if such sad episodes continue in the future. The insulted Nepali leaders may fuel anti-China activities and there are many. The chances remain high and the sure shot loser is not the minister Wang nor the local embassy officials but the Chinese President honorable Xi Jinping. That’s all.
