Nepal and China : Blueprint for the future

The Kathmandu Post
By Nishchal N Pandey
27 July, 2002

If the entire visit of His Majesty the King to China and gesture that the Chinese showed to the visiting Nepalese monarch can be summed up in one single word- it is trust. Total trust that the institution of monarchy can and will safeguard Nepal’s and China’s interests, confidence that Nepal under the new King can re-emerge as a peaceful and stable nation and a firm certainty that mutually collaborative interactions will grow between the two trusted neighbours in the days ahead.

The King’s second visit abroad after his accession to the throne last year has deepened the already enriched contents of our friendly relations, and elevated our bilateral relations to a higher level. In fact the King met and interacted with the present top leader(s) of China including Vice-President Hu Jintao who is widely assumed to be the person in charge of China’s future. "China is willing to take the opportunity of King Gyanendra’s current visit to work with Nepal along lines mapped out by the top leaders of both countries, for the lofty goal of ongoing friendship from generation to generation", said the Chinese Vice President. He served in Tibet during the tumultuous period of the late eighties and early nineties which was a tricky period in Nepal’s history as well.

Prior to the royal visit, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal Wu Congyong said, "our two countries do not have any intractable problems left by history, and what we only have are friendship, goodwill, understanding and cooperation. The development of our bilateral relations is not only in the fundamental interest and common asperity of our two peoples, [but] also is conducive to the peace and stability in the whole region".

The Chinese firmly supported His Majesty the King’s and his government’s efforts to restore peace and stability in Nepal during the visit. President Jiang Zemin while interacting with the King expressed firm support for the fight against rebels and the drive to achieve peace in the kingdom, which is adjoined with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The Chinese well remember that the last time the Royal Nepal Army was used to deal with an armed group of rebels inside Nepal was when the Khampas had formed a "Four Rivers and Six Mountain Protection Army". This was against the Chinese occupation of Tibet and waged an armed assault via Nepalese territory. It can never be in China’s interest either in the short or long-term to see a protracted conflict in Nepal plainly because Tibet, which despite its vast economic achievements, is still regarded to be the soft belly of China. A Nepal politically confused and unable to govern itself can become a terrible menace to both India and China add there is a profound wisdom that seems to have prevailed both in New Delhi and Beijing. In an interview to the CCTV, the King said that the situation in the country has definitely improved barring some isolated cases and that he is "very satisfied with the state of our relations with both our neighbours."

In recent years, the area of economic cooperation between China and Nepal has seen a steady rise. Bilateral trade amounts to nearly 150 million dollars, and joint ventures, joint management and contracting projects have become the buzzwords. This is definitely a good start although ideally a lot more could have been achieved. Last year, the two sides signed a MoU on tourism, and Nepal became the ninth destination for the Chinese outbound tourists. China is now the fifth largest investor in Nepal. In a sign of booming economic cooperation, the country has opened two more trade points on its border with Nepal, bringing the total to five. For its part, Nepal’s business community and travel industry last month offered ready access to the Chinese currency, called the Renminbi.

The Western national policy adopted by China has facilitated a promising vista for the economic cooperation between Tibet and Nepal. Tibet’s magnificent economic development drive has placed itself far better off than Nepal’s bordering districts, a fact that we better start pondering from right away. Furthermore, travellers will be able to reach Lhasa by train not long from now. The 1118-kilometres railway will extend from the city, to Golmud in neighbouring Qinghai Province. More than 960 kilometres, or more than four-fifths of the railway will be built at an altitude above 4,000 metres and more than half of the rails will be laid on long-frozen earth.

During the first half of the year, the outbound Chinese tourists from China’s inland came to a total of 7.35 million person/times, going to 226 countries and regions in the world. Last year, 10 million Chinese travelled overseas. Likewise, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached US$ 551 billion in the first half of this year, up 7.8 percent on a yearly basis. The achievement has laid a solid foundation for realizing the goal for a 7-percent economic growth set for the whole of the year.

But what do all these developments taking place in neighbouring China mean for Nepal? From the last 12 years, politicians from the entire political spectrum of the country have visited China and have returned to relate to their Nepalese voters the economic development. They proclaimed, "China’s economic advancement is incredible hence it will have marvellous positive impact on Nepal." There has neither been a vision set out for the country to gain maximum from it, nor a carefully charted out, time-bounded endeavour set forth to reap the benefits and tap the potential that exists. Plain rhetoric but no implementable national action plan, distant desire without a well graphed strategy and moreover, political instability coupled with a never-ending game of one-upmanship does not serve to enhance Nepal-China economic relations or any bilateral economic relations. Little has been done in the area of manpower training, legal, infrastructural facilitation hoped to bring in Chinese investment. The trust and goodwill that exists in the highest level between the two countries should have been cashed in by lower bodies as the Chinese too are focusing entirely on trade and investment. In fact, the second question put forth by the anchorman of the CCTV to His Majesty was on facilitating joint ventures between China and Nepal and enhancing trade followed by four more queries on other economic areas including tourism. One hears that for the first time, tourism promotion posters of Nepal are seen in the metro stations of Beijing.

Our national strategy clearly must be to accelerate development through high economic growth but this is not possible until there is political stability, corruption free good governance and a drive to forge ahead. Upon his return, His Majesty agreed, saying (he) "experienced the feeling that there was nothing that could not be achieved if there is determination, discipline and dedication."

This is where our real problem lies and as both our neighbours take advantage of their market potentialities, we will increasingly become outdone if we cannot get our act together and start making aims for the future.