Submit your Article

The Tatopani checkpoint where Nepal shares a border with its northern neighbor China is to remain open from Friday.

The Tatopani checkpoint wherein human mobility has been halted for long will come into operation tomorrow.

A meeting between the Chinese and Nepali officials held at Lhasa on Tuesday decided to permit movement of the general public through the border point, informed Chief District Officer Ramesh Neupane. "We have made all necessary preparations from the Nepal side", he said.

The movement of goods carrying vehicles resumed three months back in the bordering checkpoint that has remained closed since the 2015 earthquake.

CDO Neupane further said that the human mobility through the border point will remain open from Friday onward.

According to him, locals from Sindhupalchowk district will receive a pass having a year permit for mobility through the border point.

The government has said that it would adopt a diplomatic channel to talk about the map issue with China.

China on Aug 28 released the 2023 edition of the standard map of China, which continues to show the entire State of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region with China’s border, provoking India. India has reacted furiously to the map.

In a separate context, China, which shares its border with Nepal, has demonstrated Nepal’s old map. Nepal adopted a new political map in 2020 incorporating the Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. The Chinese move, according to experts, indicates that China is yet to accept Nepal’s new political map. Experts are suggesting the government take up this issue with China diplomatically.

On Wednesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said the government would adopt a diplomatic channel to talk about the map China released recently. During a news conference, Minister Sharma who is also the spokesperson for the government said, "Our official map is pointed at the border and was passed by parliament unanimously. We need to talk through a diplomatic channel in which context China made its map public." 

In 2015, India and China had agreed to expand the border trade at Nathu La, Lipulekh Pass and Shipki La without consultations with Nepal. Later, Nepal’s government strongly reacted to the agreement writing diplomatic notes to both India and China. 

Meanwhile, India has lodged a strong protest through the diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the new map.

CPN (Maoist Center) General Secretary Dev Gurung returned home from China on Thursday.

Gurung, who had left for the northern neighbor to arrange Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s China visit, returned home by the Tibet Airlines flight today.

According to a source, Prime Minister Dahal sent him to China to discuss possible agendas of his China visit.

Gurung returned home after holding discussions with the leaders of the Chinese Community Party and diplomatic agencies.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said that Prime Minister Dahal will visit China after wrapping up his India visit. But at the last hour, the Prime Minister has decided to visit China after the US visit.

Prime Minister Dahal will leave for the US on September 16.

He will leave for New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly on that day.

Prime Minister Dahal will leave for China on September 21 after addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

It has been learnt that Prime Minister Dahal will meet the President, Prime Minister and the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during his China visit.

The Prime Minister has been saying that there will be a power trade agreement during the visit.

He said that an agreement has already been made to connect the cross border transmission line in Rasuwa-China border.

Maoist Vice-Chairman Agni Sapkota had left for China before Dev Gurung.

Vice-President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav is leaving on a six-day visit to China on Monday afternoon.

The Vice-President is set to attend the 7th China South Asia Exposition and 27th China Kunming Import and Export Fair, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Yadav will lead a Nepali delegation to the event to be held in Kunming on August 16-20.  He is scheduled to address the official opening of the 7th China-South Asia Expo on August 16.

The Vice-President will board the China Eastern Airlines regular flight to Kunming from Tribhuvan International Airport at 4:25 pm, said the MoFA.

Vice-President Yadav will be accompanied by his spouse Champadevi Yadav, Secretary at the Office of Vice President Madhusudan Burlakoti, his personal secretary Satrudhan Yadav, personal doctor Bikram Silwal and two security personnel, it is said.

He will return home on August 21.

The death toll from recent flooding in and around China’s capital Beijing has risen to 33, including five rescuers, while 18 other people remain missing, officials said, as much of the country’s north remains threatened by ongoing heavy rainfall, Aljazeera reported.

Record downpours have hit China’s capital in recent weeks, damaging infrastructure and deluging swaths of the city’s suburbs and surrounding areas.

Officials said on Wednesday that 33 people had died and 18 others were missing after the recent bad weather in Beijing, mainly due to flooding and buildings collapsing.

Days of heavy rain hit areas in Beijing’s mountainous western outskirts especially hard, causing the collapse of 59,000 homes, damage to almost 150,000 others and flooding of more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of cropland, the city’s government said on Wednesday.

Many roads were also damaged, along with more than 100 bridges, Xia Linmao, a Beijing vice mayor, said at a news conference, according to Aljazeera.

“I would like to express my deep condolences to those who died in the line of duty and the unfortunate victims,” Linmao told reporters, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said Typhoon Doksuri hit China more than a week ago but the extent of the devastation brought by flooding and building collapses is emerging only now.

“This is the worst natural disaster to high the capital in years. The last time a storm of this scale occurred was in 2012,” Yu said, noting that areas hit hardest more than a decade ago – when almost 80 people died – were against the worst affected by the recent typhoon.

“Difficult questions are now being raised as to why lessons from that previous storm were not learned, and why buildings and roads were not reinforced, and why this damage has happened yet again,” Yu said.

Other parts of China have also seen heavy flooding, with many reported killed by flood waters across northern China, which has been battered by heavy rain since late July, disrupting the lives of millions.

Officials in Beijing said last week that 147 deaths or disappearances last month were caused by natural disasters. Of those, 142 were caused by flooding or other geological calamities, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said, Aljazeera reported.

In Hebei province, which neighbours Beijing, 15 were reported to have died and 22 were missing. And in northeastern Jilin, 14 died and one person was reported missing on Sunday.

Further north in Heilongjiang, state media reported that dozens of rivers had seen water levels rise above “warning markers” in recent days.

China’s deadliest and most destructive floods in recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, most of them along the Yangtze River.

In 2021, more than 300 people died in the central province of Henan. Record rainfall inundated the provincial capital of Zhengzhou in July of that year, turning streets into rushing rivers and flooding at least part of a subway line.

Other areas in China are also suffering from the scorching summer heat and drought, which is threatening residents’ health and crop harvest.

The Chinese government is to give 21 drones to the Nepal Police.

A Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday decided to accept 21 drones provided by the Chinese government.

The Public Security Department of Tibet has decided to provide 21 drones to the Home Ministry.

Chinese ambassador Chen Song on May 8 had informed Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha the Chinese government had decided to provide the drones to Nepal.

The Chinese government had decided to provide drones to Nepal government to monitor the border area.

The Home Ministry is preparing to give the drones to the security agency.

Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF) organized a national seminar to launch its publication – China’s Emergence in Nepal’s Infrastructure: Status, Issues and Challenges and shared key findings of the report for wider civic engagement and discussion.

The book, authored by noted author Amish Raj Mulmi, senior journalist, Anil Giri, co-founder of The Araniko Project Raunab Singh Khatri, CESIF’s Research and Program Coordinator Arpan Gelal and CESIF’s researcher Milan Acharya was launched at the Square Hotel today, reads a statement issued by the CESIF.

The book launch was followed by the discussion on the theme, ‘China’s Emergence in Nepal’s Infrastructure: Status, Issues and Challenges.’

The seminar brought together distinguished panelists—former Economic Development advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal and (Ret.) Secretary of the Government of Nepal Lal Shanker Ghimire, former Urban Secretary of the Government of Nepal Deependra Nath Sharma, Director of the Center for Governance and Academic Affairs at IIDS Dr Sucheta Pyakuryal, former senior External Affairs Officer at the World Bank, Rajib Upadhya.

The panel was moderated by Research Advisor at CESIF Ajaya Bhadra Khanal.

The discussion brought into account the nexus of corruption that Chinese infrastructure projects had built, their inclination towards party-to-party relations, especially the left political forces, and the need for Nepal’s political and bureaucratic front to work together upon its negotiation techniques, the statement reads.

Vijay Kant Karna, Executive Chair at CESIF, began the seminar by extending his welcome remarks.

“Realizing the lack of comprehensive research on China's involvement in Nepal's infrastructure sector, CESIF conducted research on the said topic, the report of which we are launching today. The report is expected to provide insights into the patterns of Chinese engagement in Nepal's infrastructure. The report also discusses the nexus between the local agents of Chinese contractors and Nepali decision makers,” said Karna.

Author Amish Raj Mulmi presented key findings and analysis of the book.

Mulmi discussed the mechanisms of the Chinese infrastructure engagement in Nepal, and then provided a succinct comparison of the infrastructural investment by China, India and Japan in Nepal, in which he commended Japan’s debt relief practices.

Lal Shanker Ghimire began the discussion by talking about how all aid comes with strings attached.

He reflected that infrastructural funding is no different and must be viewed from that same lens.

Ghimire further said that a lack of proper negotiation has led to some of the unfair deals. This lack of negotiation stems from inferiority complex and lower bargaining capacity of Nepali bureaucrats.

Similarly, Dr Sucheta Pyakuryal mentioned that Nepal is not in a scary position given the status of economic indicators.

However, the political dimension is a thing to reflect upon.

Nepal, as a country, is weak, and thus, commercial projects tend to make a weak state weaker. Therefore, we need to look upon the knots and bolts of our government while dealing with the funded infrastructure projects,’ said Dr Pyakuryal, the statement further reads.

Likewise, Dr Rajib Upadyay provided his opinion on how resources are finite now.

‘The era of cheap money is now over. In particular because of three reasons: firstly, the West is heading towards recession. Secondly, rising global tensions has brought geopolitics into the economic discourse. Thirdly, the defense budget is increasing amongst NATO countries,’ he reflected.

Deependra Nath Sharma, reflected upon the lack of a definite institution to oversee infrastructural governance.

He said that the national planning commission needs to involve itself more. Especially, when projects do not complete in the intended period, there is blame game, and cost overrun, among others.

Sharma opined, ‘There is also a Public Procurement Monitoring office, but is barely monitoring anything. It provides suggestions on dispute, but doesn’t monitor, per se.’ Thus, there is clearly an institutional gap.

Moderator Ajaya Bhadra Khanal summarized the discussion by reflecting that there exists a plethora of aspects of infrastructural development and that Nepal needs to prioritize its national interest while negotiating for infrastructural development deals.

The seminar ended with vibrant participation from audiences for the question-and-answer segment. The event hosted noted diplomats, journalists, former bureaucrats, academicians, former military officials, and researchers.

Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF) Nepal is a not-for- profit, autonomous and independent private research institution serving the public interest, with significant independence from any interest group. Our mission is to help the government create a democratic, secure and just society by making informed and transparent decisions about policies and practices.

Along with government-to-government relationships, the Communist Party of China and India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are competing to cultivate ties with Nepal’s political parties. Keeping their ideological positions at a bay, they are reaching out to all major parties in Nepal.  

High-level delegations from both the CPC and BJP are visiting Kathmandu, while leaders from various political parties in Nepal are also flying to China and India, with more party-to-party level exchange of visits on the cards. 

Political analysts say both New Delhi and Beijing are making a departure from their traditional policy of backing only specific parties and leaders and building ties with all political forces in Nepal, considering the political instability in the country.

The spectacular emergence of the recently formed Rastriya Swatantra Party and the resurgence of Rastriya Prajatantra Party—both of which are challenging the three traditional parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center)—have also forced China and India to recalibrate their approach. 

The CPC has realized that by fostering and nurturing Nepal’s leftist forces is not going to secure China’s interests.  The BJP, which has been in power in India since a decade, also wants to achieve its agendas including Hindutva ideology in Nepal by roping in all political parties. For them, a favorable government in Kathmandu is not enough; they want the overall political environment of Nepal to be on their side.  

Political analyst Lokraj Baral says both the BJP and CPC are adopting “a realistic approach” in building ties with Nepal’s political parties. 

“There is no ideological foundation in such relationships because both sides want to appease each other to enhance their power.” 

Baral says the CPC is still more partial toward Nepali communist parties, even though it has increased its engagements with other political forces.

This week, Yuan Jiajun, member of the political bureau of CPC visited Nepal at the invitation of the ruling Maoist Center. During his stay, Jiajun met leaders from across the political spectrum. As Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was out of the country, the Chinese leader held a virtual meeting with him. 

While the Chinese leader was in Kathmandu, a five-member delegation led by Phampha Bhushal of the Maoist party flew to India at the invitation of the BJP. The ties between the BJP and Maoist are only just evolving. Sources say lately, India's ruling party has also been approaching the UML.  

As for the Nepali Congress, it has always been close to India. Last year, the BJP had invited a group of leaders from the Congress party, which was led by Prakash Sharan Mahat. Former prime minister and Congress president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, had also visited the BJP headquarters in India before holding bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The engagement between China’s CPC and Nepal’s Maoist party has been there for a long time. During the insurgency period, Beijing largely supported Nepal’s monarchy, but it took no time to reach out to the Maoists, led by Prime Minister Dahal, after the party came to power following the fall of monarchy. Ideological proximity between the CPC and Maoist party brought them together. In the past six months, at least two Maoist delegations including one led by former speaker Agni Sapkota have visited China.  

Since the Maoist party is in power right now, Prime Minister Dahal is making utmost effort to strike a balance between India and China. He needs the support of both the CPC and BJP to stay in power.

But scores of Maoist leaders believe that they should step up engagement with China to reap the benefit from its economic development.

They are of the view that Nepal should immediately implement the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other agreements reached between the two countries. Through cooperation with Nepal’s political parties, China wants to replicate its development model in Nepal, not export its political ideology, say some experts. 

Due to increased interactions, Nepali leaders too have started appreciating China’s development and its model.

During his talks with Nepali leaders, Chinese leader Jiajun said that China is willing to deepen practical cooperation under the BRI with Nepal, and deeply and solidly promote the strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity between two countries.

China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with Nepali political parties to boost the development of China-Nepal relations. Jiajun told Nepali leaders that China is willing to enhance cooperation and exchanges with Nepal in agriculture, poverty reduction and education to enrich the relationship between the two countries through subnational exchanges.

Tanka Karki, former Nepali ambassador to China, says it is normal to build party-to-party relationships and there is nothing harmful about it. “Both countries want to enhance people-to-people relationship and political parties remain a key instrument of it.”

The relationship between Nepal’s Maoist party and the BJP is a new one. In July last year, as a party chair, Dahal visited the BJP headquarters in New Delhi and held talks with BJP President JP Nadda. After one year, BJP hosted the Maoists delegation in its party office for what they call to strengthen party-to-party relationship.

Perhaps, it is the result of cordial ties between the BJP and Nepal’s political parties, many Nepali politicians including Prime Minister Dahal are talking about protecting and promoting Hindu religion and culture.  

Not only India and China, the US, the UK and the EU countries are also trying to enhance their influence among Nepal’s political parties through bilateral exchanges and visits. They are mainly close with parliamentarians to influence the law-making process in Nepal.  

Political analyst Chandra Dev Bhatta says India and China’s increased engagements between the political parties of Nepal, can certainly be helpful to enhance relations at the political level which can also percolate at the peoples level.

“This is also particularly important when diametrically opposite political parties in terms of ideology are in power on both sides— BJP in India and Maoist Centre in Nepal. It will help resolve contentious issues between the two countries,” he says. “But if such engagements are done merely for other interests either to stay in power or to create a comfortable regime, they could backfire and damage the relations.”

In July 2018, Nepal gifted two pairs of endangered greater one-horned baby rhinos to China as part of rhino diplomacy. The first pair was Bhadra (male) and Rupasi (female), who boarded a chartered flight to the Chinese city Guangzhou as symbolic ambassadors of Sino-Nepal friendship.

Right before their flight, I had followed all the preparatory activities and rhinos’ road journey in a truck from Chitwan National Park to Kathmandu. After exactly five years, this June, when I traveled to Guangzhou, I couldn’t stop myself from saying hello to the exquisite and rare pair living in a special zone of Chimelong Safari Park.

As Harisharan Pudasaini, Consul General at Nepali Consulate Office in Guangzhou, said, the baby rhinos have not just found a new home in Guangzhou, but also have helped strengthen the friendship between the two countries. “Nepali rhinos are in good hands, growing in a safe and healthy environment. Every time I visit the park, I feel like they are happy and smiling for being able to see us; their Nepali connections. It’s a special feeling.” Are they really happy? How is their new home in China? I tried to find answers through Zhang Xueli, general manager of Chimelong Safari Park.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is the current status of baby rhinos brought from Nepal?

On 12 July 2018, the young Bhadra and Rupasi boarded a chartered flight from Nepal's capital Kathmandu to Guangzhou to start their new life in Chimelong, China. Bhadra and Rupasi are in good condition and have grown up healthy. Bhadra, the male Greater One-horned Rhino, has grown from 670 kg to 1,830 kg, with a total weight gain of 1,160 kg, while the female Rupasi, has grown from 865 kg to 1,474 kg, with a total weight gain of 609 kg.  

Have they adapted to the new environment? How is their nature, food habits and daily activities?

Yes, they are now adapted to their living environment in Chimelong. They are docile and enjoy basking in the sun on the ground. They are large and cute animals. In order to ensure that Nepal’s national treasure is better adapted to the Chinese environment, Chimelong Group has specially set up a special farm for Asian rhinos, planting a large number of high-quality elephant grass for Greater One-horned Rhinos to eat a large amount of food, while adding other grass, leaves, some amount of vegetables and fruits, concentrate and other foods to make it nutritiously balanced. RUPASI especially likes carrots. At the same time, in order to solve the imbalance of dietary fat, soluble and insoluble carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, Chimelong has developed a special diet for them, adding salt bricks during the feeding process. We believe that the inorganic salts in salt bricks can promote the bone growth of Greater One-horned Rhinos. In addition, Chimelong deliberately expanded the logistics conservation area, which consists of the hay area and the soil area, so that they can express their daily behaviors freely- roll mud bath and grind.

Do you plan to continue keeping them in a special protected area or relocate in the public section of the park?

At present, the two rhinos from Nepal are nearing adulthood. Because the species is so valuable, breeding and enlarging the population is a priority compared to the park display. Chimelong is currently concentrating its efforts to carry out scientific research and strive for early reproduction. Meanwhile, Chimelong has put the exhibition on the agenda and will show them to the public at the right time.

Any specific future plans regarding the increase in their population?

Chimelong has built a herbivorous research center, and continues to carry out scientific research on rhino protection and breeding, constantly breaking through the artificial conservation technology of rhinos, and successfully achieving the breeding of black and white rhinos. At present, Chimelong animal conservation and scientific research team is working on the conservation technology of Greater One-horned Rhino, cooperating with the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) and  participating in EAZA breeding program, and striving to achieve successfully breeding at an early date. In addition, we hope that the Nepali authorities will re-approve the export of Greater One-horned Rhino to Chimelong and establish a sustainable artificial population in Chimelong. In the future, Greater One-horned Rhinos individuals born in Chimelong will be returned to Nepal, making contributions to Nepal’s wild population protection and public education, as well as the world's rhino conservation.

Since they are in a special protected area, do the Chinese public have any impression about these Nepali rhinos?

More than 100 years ago, the Greater One-horned Rhino was distributed in the wild in China. There are records of rhinos on oracle bone inscriptions dating back more than 3,000 years, referring to the Greater One-horned Rhino. Even now, the Greater One-horned Rhino has a high profile among the Chinese public and is an important flagship species that China needs to restore its wild population in the future. Bhadra and Rupasi carry the deep friendship and trust of the Nepalese people to the Chinese people. As the symbol and messenger of China-Nepal friendship, they have been carefully cared for and managed by the Chimelong conservation team. They are growing healthily and vigorously in their new home in Guangzhou.

What is the significance of these rhinos in China? How will the Sino-China friendship be promoted through this precious gift? 

The Greater One-horned Rhino carries the memory of the Chinese people for thousands years, and has a high status in the minds of the Chinese people. Greater One-horned Rhino is extinct in the wild in China. We hope that with the gradual recovery of wild habitats in China, we can reintroduce Greater One-horned Rhinos to the wild in China in the near future through our efforts. Nepal is known in China for its famous snow-capped mountains, and the Chinese public doesn't know much about Nepal’s Greater One-horned Rhinos. Through the publicity of the Greater One-horned Rhinos of Nepal, people can learn about the diversified wildlife and natural environment of Nepal, more and more people will be attracted to travel to Nepal, friendly exchanges between the people of China and Nepal will be promoted, and the friendship between two countries will be enhanced. May the friendship between people of China and Nepal last forever.

The Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday on technology development and exchange of skills in the field of agriculture. 

Executive Director of NARC Dr Dhurba Raj Bhattarai and Vice Chairman of SAAS Dr Leo Younghang signed the MoU on technology transfer and skills exchange.

It is said that the two institutions would cooperate on technology transfer and promotion developed for the farmers and agriculture sector.

Sharing the information about the MoU, NARC Executive Director Dr Bhattarai said that agreement has been made to collaborate on increasing quality productions as well as agriculture development.

Likewise, SAAS Vice-Chairman has pledged to provide training to Nepali researchers and technicians on high-quality agricultural technology. 

Such training would be given to Nepali researchers on maize and sweet yam production in the near future.

A team of SAAS Vice-Chairman is currently on a three-day Nepal visit.