China includes Nepal in its circle of friendship

In recent months, China has accelerated efforts to expand influence over Nepal. High level governmental visits have been reinforced by financial largesse, conveying that Beijing’s overtures are not cosmetic, but robust diplomatic initiatives intended to elevate Sino-Nepal relations to a new plane. The pronounced role of China’s security and military establishment in formulating the policy towards Nepal is apparent. Within months of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Chief, General Chen Bingde, travelling to Kathmandu in April and signing a US$19.8 million agreement, China’s security czar and one of the nine members of its all-powerful Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC), Zhou Yongkang, arrived in Kathmandu on August 16, 2011 on a three day visit. His was the highest level visit to Nepal from China in eight years. Designated Chinese President Hu Jintao’s ‘special envoy’, he led an unusually large 60-member delegation, which included three ministers and four vice-ministers. An especially new feature of this visit was the emphasis on cooperation in security matters. China additionally extended Nepal a grant of RMB (Yuan) 6 million (Rs 67.4 million) for security equipment for the Nepal Police. Considering that Nepal’s budget for its police force is approx US$264 million, it appears that the grant is intended primarily to strengthen monitoring of the Tibetan community in Nepal and security along the borders with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Though official briefings did not indicate that the Tibet issue was discussed, it was undoubtedly high on the agenda as discernible from the restrictions imposed by Nepalese authorities on the Tibetan community in the days prior to the visit. The Dalai Lama’s representative in Kathmandu was, in fact, asked to leave the capital though he is a Nepali national. The visit of Zhou Yongkang, who was referred to in the official Chinese media by his title of Secretary of the CCP Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs, assumes potentially added significance in the backdrop of reports that China is establishing numerous Intelligence Training Establishments. In a programme initiated in 2008, China has established Intelligence Colleges in Nanjing, Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Qingdao and Harbin with the eighth opening in Hunan this July. Graduates of these colleges, which aim to recruit and train 30-50 specially selected undergraduates each year, could well be deployed in Nepal. Nepalese security personnel could also be trained in China. Zhou Yongkang met a cross-section of Nepalese politicians including Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav, caretaker Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), or UCPN-M, Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala and leaders of the Madhesi parties. His political agenda was discernible during the meeting with Prachanda, Chairman of the UCPN-M, on August 16. This merited special mention in the official Chinese media. During this meeting Zhou Yongkang observed that ties between the CCP and the UCPN-M had achieved a ‘great leap forward’ since relations were established in 2007. He recalled that when Prachanda visited China in 2008, as Nepalese Prime Minister, he had reached a broad consensus with Chinese leaders for promoting bilateral relations to lay a solid foundation for closer China-Nepal relations. China’s security czar expressed gratitude to the UCPN-M for its firm support on issues related to ‘China’s core interests’—a code-word for the Tibet issue. Zhou Yongkang urged the UCPN-M, as the largest party in the Nepali Constituent Assembly (CA), to resolve differences with other Nepalese political parties through dialogue and push forward the peace and constitutional process. Prachanda described the Chinese leader’s visit as a significant event coming at a ‘critical moment of Nepal’s political transition towards its peace process’ and in Nepal-China friendship. Assuring that the UCPN-M will work towards early completion of the peace and constitutional process, Prachanda asserted that Nepal has benefitted from China’s economic development and will further promote inter-party exchanges. The four agreements signed during the visit were Economic and Technical Cooperation, Framework Agreement on Provision of Concessional Loan for Nepal, Letter of Exchange on Security Equipment for Nepal, and Concessional Loan Agreement for Upper Tamakoshi ‘A’ Transmission Line Project. Chinese aid includes a grant of 150 million Chinese Yuan (Rs 1.69 billion), 154 million Yuan (Rs 1.73 billion) as soft loan for extension of the transmission line, and a grant of Yuan 6 million (Nepal Rs 67.4 million) for security equipment for Nepal’s Police. China’s objectives in securing a tight grip over Nepal are manifold. The highest priority is for neutralising the threat perceived as emanating from Tibetans residing in Nepal and their potential, in collusion with what Beijing calls ‘hostile forces’, for destabilising Tibet. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping recently described Tibet ‘as an important security screen for the country’ and ‘major base of strategic resources reserves’. It would also facilitate Beijing’s efforts to acquire influence in the Indo-Himalayan belt and help China further extend its security buffer.

It’s payback time, China tells Europe

China has signalled that the West must do more to recognise it as a market economy if Europe wants further help in fixing its debt crisis. Beijing’s warning comes as Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy have all turned to the Asian superpower as a potential buyer of their debt. The still-strong economic growth enjoyed by China, already the biggest foreign creditor to the US, may hand it extra sway in trade negotiations with Europe. The Chinese government wants the European Union to recognise China as a full market economy under World Trade Organisation rules, which would remove many restrictions for Chinese companies. “It would help the US and the EU break away from their current financial woes should they ditch protectionist measures and sincerely open their arms to Chinese investments, allowing China to make the most of its rich foreign exchange reserves,” said state-run news service Xinhua on Tuesday. China agreed to adopt non-market status for 15 years when joining the WTO in 2001 but Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said last week that China had reformed enough for his country — the world’s fastest-growing major economy — to have its WTO status changed now. Despite the leverage the crisis in Western economies has handed China, a US official warned Beijing on Tuesday it must do more to open up its own economy. “China’s current business climate is causing frustrations among foreign business and government leaders,” Gary Locke, the US ambassador to China, said in a speech in the Chinese capital. He also told Beijing to allow its currency to trade more freely and stop intellectual property theft. China’s appetite for US government debt is driven by the need to spend the $3.2 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves it has accumulated through keeping a lid on the value of the yuan. Analysts think it unlikely Beijing will park yet more money with heavily-indebted European governments without extracting a price. “China has completed the transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, but the EU still does not recognise China’s full market economy status,” a spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry said. The rising tension between China and Europe came amid reports that the Bank of China has stopped trading foreign-exchange forwards and swaps with some European banks.

Bomb Blasts in Nepal, 2011

Number	Date	Place	Killed	Injured
1	January 12	Rautahat District	0	0
2	March 25	Bhediya chowk/Rautahat District	0	13
3	March 25	Gaur/Rupandehi District	0	0
4	March 26	Nepalgunj/Banke District	0	7
5	March 27	Butwal/Rupandehi District	1	23
6	April 17	Siraha District.	0	0
7	April 28	Mahottari District	0	3
8	May 14	Dhanusha District	0	1
9	July 7	Gulariya customs office in Bardiya District	0	0
10	July 15	Bindabasini-7 in the far-western Achham District	1	1
11	August 5	Nepal Electricity Authority District Centre at Itahari of Sunsari District	0	0
Total			2	48

Confidential doc of Nepal by china

Beijing’s unopened secret gift package to Nepal CLAUDE ARPI | Monday, August 29, 2011

You may think that Communists are atheists. You are wrong. They have recently become great experts in religious matters, including ‘soul’ reincarnations and reestablishing Buddhist institutions.

Last year, Beijing announced some new regulations to select what they call ‘Living Buddhas’. Termed Management Measures for the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, it proclaimed that “the reincarnation of Living Buddhas shall not be interfered or dominated by any organisation or individual abroad (read the Dalai Lama) … the reincarnation of living Buddhas should fulfill the application and approval procedures.”

In other words, the Party is the only legitimate body to select the reincarnations of diseased Tibetan Lamas. Amazing! In fact, there is nothing really new in the Chinese rulers’ attitude: during the nineteenth century, the Chinese ambassadors in Lhasa knew the trick well:

‘Control the reincarnation system; you will control the country!’ The Ninth to Twelfth Dalai Lamas died mysteriously before attaining majority. Chinese-controlled puppet regents could manage the interregnum.Closer in time, a few days after criticising the Party at a public function in Shigatse in 1989 (in the presence of the then Tibet party secretary, Hu Jintao), the Panchen Lama ‘passed away’.

The Party could not accept to lose control over the courageous Lama.

In India, left-minded people have also become great experts in Buddhist philosophy. Last year, Dr Amartya Sen made a rather surprising statement: when asked about the omission of the Dalai Lama’s name from the Nalanda University project, the Nobel Economics Laureate said that “religious studies could be imparted without involvement of religious leaders.”

This seems out of tune with the spirit of the ancient Indian viharas. In the 1960s in Europe, when the first Buddhist Lamas were engaged as lecturers, they were told to interpret Buddhism not as an insider, but an outsider. It is probably what Dr Sen meant when he spoke about the Dalai Lama:

“Being religiously active may not be the same as (being) an appropriate person for religious studies.”

Dr Sen should try to find out why the Indian viharas attracted so many scholars and students from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia or Greece, at least till the day they were looted by Muslim invaders in 1193.

Simply because the teachers, the gurus taught what they had practiced and experienced. Unfortunately, Dr Sen probably wants to recreate a new Santiniketan, an academic institution without its original spirit.

Interestingly in December 2010, during his visit to India, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gave a large contribution to Nalanda University. This could explain Dr Sen’s reaction.

The joint communiqué issued by the prime ministers of India and China mentions: “China welcomed India’s efforts to revive the Nalanda University. Both sides appreciated the work of the Nalanda Mentor Group and the progress made so far. India welcomed China’s contribution of US dollars 1 million for the Nalanda University.”

And much more funds are expected from China through a consortium based in Singapore. Beijing seems keen to develop other religious places. Take Lumbini, the birth place of the Buddha in Nepal.

Surendra Devkota wrote in The Himalayan Times: “Comrade Prachanda of the Maoist party seems in a mission of transformation from an atheist to a monk. Thanks to the Chinese donation of $3 billion to Hong Kong-based quasi-government NGO – Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF)”.

Further, this organisation signed a deal with the UN Industrial Development Organisation to develop Lumbini, the birth place of the Buddha located a few kilometers from the Indian border.

The Nepali newspaper reminds its readers that “when the Taliban government in March 2001 destroyed the two massive and ancient Buddha statues dating back to the second century AD, in Afghanistan’s central province of Bamiyan, the Maoists celebrated!”

Till recently the Maoists were better known for their hardcore atheism than their religious propensity, but times are changing. Fortunately, a fortnight after the APECF announced its plan for a virtual takeover of Lumbini, Nepal rejected the deal: “Nepal is the actual stakeholder… how can we own a deal struck in a third country without the formal consent of the actual stakeholder? said Modraj Dottel, spokesperson of Nepal’s culture ministry.

It is in this atmosphere that Zhou Yongkang, a member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, one of the nine bosses of the Middle Kingdom, arrived in Kathmandu on August 16. Before his arrival, reports mentioned that Zhou Yongkang had a ‘secret gift package’ in his luggage.

Was it connected with the Maoist ‘revival’ of Buddhism? We will not know because Zhou’s visit did not go as per the planned script, since the Nepali prime minister had resigned a few days before Zhou’s arrival and no ‘gift’ could be presented.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISI used Nepal as a hub for terror inside India: WikiLeaks Washington, Sept 6 (PTI) In the run up to the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 by Pakistan-based terrorist outfits, the ISI had made Nepal a hub of anti-India terror activities from where it pushed huge quantities of RDX into the country, latest US cables released by WikiLeaks say. In these cable, US officials have conceded that it is the ISI which created various terrorist fronts to carry out terrorist activities in India, including the bomb blasts in the busy areas of Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi and several cities across the country. One of such organisation created by ISI in Pakistan was Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF), with its main base in Kathmandu. “To dispatch men and material and to execute explosions in India, Kathmandu was invariably made the nodal point and JKIF exploited the vulnerable Kathmandu-based Kashmiri businessmen for such activities since they had a readymade and clean past. JKIF kingpin Javed Krawah himself used to run a carpet business in Kathmandu,” said the US cable signed off by none other than the then US Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner. JKIF, says the cable dated July 8, 1997, was controlled from Pakistan by ISI and Tiger Memon, the prime accused in 1993 Mumbai blast case. “Their contact in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was Bilal Beg, who was running an indoctrination camp near Muzaffarabad, funded extensively by the ISI to carry out terrorist acts in India. One Colonel Farooq of Pakistan ISI tasked Bilal Beg and Tiger Memon to utilize Kathmandu-based activists Lateef and Javed Krawah to set off blasts in Delhi before the Lok Sabha elections,” it said. According to the cable, a team of committed JKIF cadres were given a two week specialised capsule course in explosives near the Afghan border in March April 1996. In May 21, 1996; this JKIF team set off a very high intensity explosion at Lajpat Nagar in which 13 persons were killed and 40 injured. “The RDX used in this blast was brought from Kathmandu,” the cable said. The subsequent explosion in a Rajasthan roadways bus near Dausa on May 22, 1996 was also engineers by the JKIF. “Another JKIF team under the leadership of Abdul Gani, AKA Assadullah, was sent to execute a bomb blast in Ahmedabad,” it said. JKIF again planned a chain of explosions in Delhi before Republic Day 1997 at the behest of Pakistan ISI and Tiger Memon, the cable said. According to the US cable, JKIF was formed in September 1995 by one Sajjad Ahmed Kenu, who was a well know activists of Ikhwan-ul-Musalmeen (IUM). Sajjad Kenu had escaped from Sri Nagar Jail in 1995 and had resurfaced as the supreme commander of the JKIF in 1995. Since its inception, the JKIF had been under considerable pressure from its Pakistan-based leadership t carry out bomb blasts outside J&K, particularly in Delhi, the cable said.

 

 

 

India’s oil move in Vietnam serious provocation: Chinese daily Published: Friday, Sep 16, 2011, 20:12 IST Place: Beijing | Agency: PTI

A Jumbo Chinese Delegation Visits Nepal: A high-level Chinese government delegation of five dozen members led by Zhou Yongkang, a member of Standing Committee of Political Bureau of Chinese Communist Party visited Nepal from August 16 to 18, 2011. According to reports, Zhou is one of the top ten leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. The 60-member delegation also includes three ministers and four assistant ministers.

This was the highest level Chinese government delegation to visit Nepal since December 2003. Earlier Jia Qinglin, also a Politburo Standing Committee member and chief of the Chinese People´s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) visited Nepal in December 2003. Jia is China’s top official responsible for Tibetan affairs, while Zhou is the head of the Central Political and Legislative Committee. Before that the then Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji and President Jiang Zemin visited Nepal in 2001 and in 1996 respectively. Then onwards, no president or prime minister of China has visited Nepal so far. About one-and-a-half dozen senior army officials led by Chinese Army chief Chen Bingde had visited Nepal some four months ago. The visit was reported to have led to the appointment of a senior most security expert Yong Houlan as China’s ambassador to Nepal.

During the visit, the delegation held separate meetings with President Ram Baran Yadav, caretaker Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Upendra Yadav,the UCPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress (NC) president Sushil Koirala and leaders of Madhesi parties. During the meetings with the leaders, the Chinese delegation not only expressed its concern over ongoing peace process and constitution drafting, but also hoped that the parties would be able to forge consensus by August 31, 2011 when the Constituent Assembly’s term comes to a close and conclude the peace process successfully. Also, different memorandums of understanding of grant and loan assistance worth three billion rupees were signed during the visit of the Chinese delegation. The major agreements signed by the Chinese delegation include Economic and Technical Cooperation, Framework Agreement on Provision of Concessional Loan for Nepal, Letter of Exchange on Security Equipment for Nepal and Concessional Loan Agreement for Upper Tamakoshi ‘A’ Transmission Line Project. These agreements were signed in the presence of PM Khanal and Zhou. According to Lal Shankar Ghimire, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal, the Chinese aid include a grant of 150 million Chinese Yuan (Rs 1.69 billion) under economic and technical cooperation grant, 154 million Yuan (Rs 1.73 billion) for the extension of Upper Trishuli transmission line as soft loan and 6 million Yuan (Rs 67.4 million) for security equipments of Nepal Police.

In the meantime, the security had been beefed up around Tibetan settlement areas across the Nepali capital in order to avoid possible Tibetan protest against the visit of a high-level Chinese delegation. It is reported that at least eight Tibetan were arrested by Nepal Police from Kathmandu on August 15, 2011, a day before the Chinese delegation’s arrival. Initially the local Nepali officials called upon the Voluntary Co-ordinator of Tibetan Welfare Office, Thinlay Lama to ensure that there would be no forms of protest from the Tibetan community during the visit.

Relations with India

New Indian Envoy Arrives in Nepal: New Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayanta Prasad, who arrived in Kathmandu on August 25, 2011, has submitted his credentials to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and formally assumed office on August 26, 2011. Upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Prasad said India gives high priority to its relations with Nepal. “There is no bilateral relationship for India of such multi-faceted nature. Our leaders attach the highest importance to this relationship,” Prasad told media persons. “Our progress and prosperity are intertwined. India and Nepal today share the same challenges, of peace, of stability, of national integration, and of bringing the fruits of development to their peoples,” he said, adding, “Nepal’s success in meeting these challenges will be, equally, India’s success.” On his priorities in Nepal, the new Ambassador Prasad said, “It shall be my constant endeavour to do whatever I can to nurture a strong, productive and mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries.”

Prasad, 58, a career diplomat, was special secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs before being appointed ambassador to Nepal. He had also served as Indian ambassador to Afghanistan and Algeria. He is Indian Foreign Service’s 1976 batch. He has been appointed as Indian Ambassador to Nepal after his predecessor Rakesh Sood, the former Indian ambassador had left Nepal two weeks ago after completing his three-year tenure in Kathmandu.