Mohan Singh, Kathmandu. Nepal is a South Asian Himalayan country,being the home of 3 crores proud Nepalese.Nepal is surrounded by two major powers- India and China. India and Nepal had been sharing very historical and civilizational relations while the relationship with China started flourishing recently.Despite having many prospects for development,its political instability has overshadowed its growth.Political problems are common in every country but interference of other countries in a country’s internal affairs is often not considered positive.In the context of Nepal,in recent times China has been trying to influence the Nepalese politics and government and entrench itself deeply in Nepalese governance and politics.
The interference by the Chinese government was comparatively less before because they tried to intervene unnoticeably but now they don’t even try to hide the fact that they are interfering in the Nepalese internal affairs.It all started with the visit of President Xi Jinping in October 2019.After that Nepal also grew interested in the BRI(Belt and Road Initiative) which is a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development that connects Asia with Africa and Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas via land and maritime networks.This gave China further ground to communicate with the Nepalese stakeholders and leaders.China’s influence in Nepal has been on an upward trajectory ever since President Xi Jinping came to power and made Nepal accept the BRI.
Since the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in October 2019 the country is undergoing an increasingly forceful political dictation from the Chinese government in political affairs and governmental agenda in Nepal.In December 2020,recently after the separation of the then ruling party NCP into two factions,A team of delegates of the Communist Party of China (CPC) spent four days in Nepal, playing mediator between the two factions of the then ruling political party Nepal Communist Party (NCP).It drew international attention as it was not a common sight that a neighbouring country was trying to mediate between the political parties of another country as it depicted strong interference in another country’s politics. This proved that the Chinese government believed that they could control the country’s political affairs by sending a delegation on its own despite not being invited formally.
Though China has promised not to interfere in Nepal’s internal affairs in many agreements,there have been many examples where CPC has been holding virtual workshops giving lessons to Nepali leaders on running the party and the government.This can be really offending as this shows the direct interference of the Chinese government.Also the political affairs in which the Chinese government have been involved often don’t go right.For example,China’s interference in mediating the two factions of NCP then lead to a popular backlash as though the Chinese government deemed the visit as a “goodwill visit”, their intention was clear i.e “to unite the NCP at any cost but it resulted in an inevitable break-up within the ruling NCP.
In recent times,China has strongly positioned itself in Nepal and its internal political affairs and is continuously increasing its engagement in multiple ways. In the past, one could only notice China’s involvement in the development of infrastructure but not in other areas. Of late, China has been penetrating and intervening in Nepali politics.China’s stained history has led many to think of the ulterior motives it has when interfering in the Nepalese politics.Many think that this is to construct the BRI without any obstacle.It just doesn’t want a political crisis to hinder the development of BRI.China just wants to continue its relationship with all Nepalese political parties and its economic cooperation including the Trans-Himalayan Multi Dimensional Connectivity Network and other BRI projects to get personal gains and advantages.
China’s engagement in Nepal is not new as this activity is taking an uphill route as time passes by.Though Nepal does need Chinese economic help for carrying various development plans,measures should be taken to decrease its negative aspects.Also,while maintaining relationship with China,Nepal should not forget its other diplomatic relations.For example,there used to be a time in Nepal when Indian ambassadors used to regularly meet with top Nepali leaders and collaborate to solve various problems but that has now been reduced to quite a extent recently.
It’s undeniable that Chinese influence in Nepal has increased in recent years and that China unlike before isn’t playing tricks to hide this fact.Nepal should properly analyse the Chinese interference in Nepalese politics to maintain its status as a sovereign nation.
