Jubilee Post News & Views
Jubilee News Desk
While political crisis in Nepal reaching peak China has begun working in the Himalayan nation that India will keep a close watch.
The four-member delegation, led by Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Guo Yezhou, will hold high-level talks in Kathmandu. Also, Hou Yanqi, the China’s ambassador to Nepal, has reportedly met the Nepal president Bidya Devi Bhandari.
Thought details of the meet are not public but Hou’s visit is crucial as it has come just two days after Bhandari dissolved the Nepalese Parliament on the recommendation of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli. Hou has been in the news since long and is said to have much knowledge inside Nepal.
China has kept no secret about its influence on politicians in Nepal, and India is unlikely to hold back in ensuring Kathmandu remains an ally. While Beijing sees Nepal as a barricade against the international movement targeting China, for New Delhi the Hindu nation is important for the region’s security and to keep its sphere of influence.
The 68-year-old Oli recommended the move because of the friction within the Nepalese Communist Party, which was making it difficult for him to govern. Oli had become prime minister after his Nepal Communist Party won elections three years ago. Oli’s party and the party of former Maoist rebels had merged to form a strong communist party to win the election.
There has, however, been a power tussle between Oli and the leader of the former Maoists rebels, 66-year-old Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who is also the co-chair of the NCP. Oli has refused to succeed him as the prime minister or lead the party, causing problems within the party.
China, and most importantly Hou, played a crucial role in preventing a split within the Nepalese Communist Party or a dissolution of the Oli government. On dececmber 18 Yanqi had tweeted after a seminar, “My great pleasure to attend this online seminar hosted by China Study Centre and discuss with Nepali scholars and friends on how to develop China-Nepal relations in new domestic and international situations.”
On December 8 the new height of Mount Qomolangma was declared jointly by Chinese president Xi Jinping and Nepal president Bidya Devi Bhandari.
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In fact, in late April and early May 2020, Hou had prevented the collapse of the government by holding back-to-back talks with the NCP leadership including Oli, and Prachanda, and senior leader Madhav Nepal.
A Kathmandu-based political analyst said that after the political change in Nepal in 2008, China has been penetrating in Nepali politics as well as in society. In fact, it was China that had brought the UML and Maoist factions of the Nepalese Communist Party together in 2018.
India wouldn’t want somebody who is unsympathetic towards its security concerns but India needs to pay attention to development in Nepal particularly interests that pushed Nepal towards China.
