One More Key Step In Nepal-China Ties

Yuba Nath Lamsal

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala paid a two-day official visit to Kunming, China as a guest of honor in the inaugural session of the second China South Asia Expo in which he delivered as key note speech that touched upon not only the long legacy of friendly and cooperative relations between these two close Asian neighbors but also laid down a ground work for a new model of enhanced cooperation between Nepal and China. The visit was taken in a highly optimistic tone in both Nepal and China as it was viewed as an important milestone for further nurturing age-old friendly relations between these two neighbors.

Soon after being elected as Prime Minister, Koirala was greeted with prompt congratulatory message by Chinese premier Li Kequiang  in which premier Li expressed his readiness to work together, develop comprehensive and cooperative partnership with Nepal. Moreover, the respect and role that was bestowed upon Prime Minister Koirala by the government of China is Kunming is suffice to illustrate the high priority Beijing attaches to Nepal in broader spectrum of Beijing’s foreign policy. More than that China sent a special aircraft to Kathmandu to facilitate Koirala’s safe  and comfortable journey to Kunming. Koirala, too, put forth his views in a candid manner to seek China’s greater and more meaningful cooperation and investment in Nepal in the days to come, to which the Chinese side has shown positive response.

With China rising as an international power economically and otherwise, Beijing is now more outward-looking building peaceful and constructive partnership with nations across all continents. However, after Xi Jinping rose to power, Beijing’s focus of international cooperation has been in its neighborhood as China wants its neighbors also to benefit from its prosperity. South Asia is, therefore, a priority zone with which China wants to build meaningful partnership. As a close neighbors sharing common border and enjoying a long history of cooperative relations, Nepal is an important neighbor as it is a gateway to South Asia. Similarly, China, too, is an important country for Nepal for variety of reasons.

To put simply and plainly, China is important for us because it is our close neighbor with which we share a 1,439-km common border in the north. However, despite having common border, Nepal and China never have any border dispute in the modern history, which in itself is the most important feature in the bilateral relationship between these two countries. Nepal and China had had contacts and good bond of mutual cooperation and exchanges in various fronts and areas right from the ancient time. The scholars and experts, artists and craftsmen, travelers and traders had long served as important sources of thread to bind and bring peoples of these two countries together. Nepali princess Bhrikuti, who was married to a Tibetan prince, not only carried with her the deep feelings of love and respect of the Nepali people for Tibet but was also principally responsible for introducing and popularizing Buddhism in Tibet and then China, for which she is revered as Green Tara in Tibetan iconography. The other personality that played an instrumental role in promoting Nepal-China relations is craftsman Arniko, who popularized Nepali architecture in China during the time of the Yang Dynasty. The white pagoda built by Arniko still stands tall in Beijing as a symbol of friendship and cooperative relations between our two great nations. In the similar way, several Chinese monks and travelers like Faxian and Hsuan Tsang are some of the names who travelled to Nepal on different occasions and wrote a travel account about Lumbini and Nepal. Such visits contributed to deepening social, cultural, religious, economic and even political relations between Nepal and China.

The year 1955 is a turning point in the history of Nepal-China relations. On August 1, 1955, Nepal and China, after a six-days of negotiations between the representatives of the two countries from July 27 to August 1, issued a joint communiqué in Kathmandu agreeing ‘ …to establish normal diplomatic relations and to exchange ambassadors…’ and also agreed upon the five principles which would serve as the basis for the bilateral relations between the two countries. These five principles include ‘mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; non-aggression; non interference in each other’s internal affairs for any reasons—of an economic, political, or ideological character; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence’ The same five principles were later accepted by Non-Aligned Movement as the fundamental guiding principles for international relations. The objectives of the establishment of the diplomatic relations were to boost and bolster bilateral mutual cooperation and friendship between the two countries as the joint communiqué clearly states ‘ the two governments believe that the establishment of diplomatic relations will also promote further development in the cultural and economic cooperation between the two countries’. Since then the bilateral relations constantly continue to grow and deepen in the best and utmost interest of the peoples of the two countries. China has truly lived up to its words and is sincerely contributing to Nepal’s development. As a result, China has become Nepal’s genuine development partner, which has been consistently, but unselfishly, contributing to social and economic development of Nepal and enhancing bilateral friendly relations at different levels.

The exchanges of visit between Nepal and China at different levels had started right from the ancient time  and this tradition continues even today that has contributed to bringing the two people ever closer and strengthening the friendly bilateral ties. After the diplomatic relations were established, exchanges of visits at different levels have further intensified. The high level visits between these two countries have taken place on regular basis. Chinese Premiers Zhou Enlai, Hua Guofeng, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji and Wen Jiabao and President Li Xiannian are the top most Chinese dignitaries to visit Nepal whereas many top Nepali dignitaries including kings and prime ministers have visited China seeking to promote bilateral friendship and cooperation. The recent visit of Prime Minister Koirala to Kunming of China is the continuation of this long tradition of exchanging high level of visit between Nepal and China.

These visits have helped both the countries understand one another more closely. As a result, Nepal and China understand the sensitivity of one another. While China is a genuine partner of Nepal’s development, Nepal, too, is doing its best to ensure that nothing will hurt China’s interests and sensitivities. Nepal has always adhered to one-China policy and does not allow any kind of anti-China activities in its territories. As a result, Nepal and China have identical approach in viewing the world and dealing with international issues. Both these countries seek peaceful approach to settle any kind of international disputes. The five principles of peaceful co-existence are the basis for the conduct of foreign policy and diplomacy. More than that, China attaches greater priority to the relationship, friendship and cooperation with its neighbors, including Nepal.

Being a close neighbor, Nepal is in China’s priority list and has done everything possible to further deepening the age-old friendly relationship and cooperation with Nepal and the Nepalese people. Nepal is China’s backyard and also a gateway to South Asia with which China is keenly desirous to expand trade and economic relations and cooperation more than ever. Situated in such a vital strategic location, Nepal can be an effective and vibrant bridge between China and South Asia. It is against this background that the concept of trilateral cooperation among Nepal, India and China has come up. China is positive in building a trilateral partnership through which Nepal can emerge as a regional strategic and commercial hub.

 Perhaps, guided by the notion of further accelerating economic cooperation and trade with South Asia, China has started to organize annually the China-South Asia Expo in Kunming of Yunnan Province, an important gateway to South Asia, to showcase the prospects, priorities and potentials for cooperation with different South Asian countries. The second China-South Asia Expo was held on June 5-10 in which Nepal was a theme country and Prime Minister Koirala was a principal guest. Prime Minister Koirala was accorded a high level of respect by China in Kunming, which is a testament of the fact that China attaches especial importance to the relationship with Nepal. In fact, Nepal and China have remained friends in need throughout history and the recent visit of Prime Minister Koirala has added further impetus to the already existing friendly ties between these two countries.