China to extend financial support

As Nepal government is getting ready for the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the Chinese government claimed to offer a special financial package to the impoverished Himalayan nation.

Yang, who is on his maiden visit to Nepal, is leading a 15-member delegation, and is scheduled to reach Kathmandu on Tuesday on a three-day visit.

Interestingly, hours before Yang’s high-profile visit, the new Chinese ambassador to Nepal Qiu Guohong has announced that his country would soon increase its financial support to the Himalayan nation.

Qui on Saturday attended a function of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party at Bhaktapur and announced that the Chinese government will soon announce a special financial package for Nepal.

However, the Chinese envoy did not divulge the details of the special financial package for Nepal. Earlier in the month of September this year, the Chinese government had announced a special military assistance to Nepal.

To finalise the implementation of the military assistance, an eight-member Chinese military delegation headed by Major-General I Huzeng visited Nepal between November 19 and 23.

The Chinese government has already connected Nepal with its optical fibre network and has announced to extend its railway network from Lhasa to Kathmandu immediately.

The sudden move by the Chinese government to extend major support to Nepal financially and militarily has raised a series of questions.

In the past, the Nepal government was forced to pay penalty to the Chinese government for delay in payment for supply of two aircrafts.

Moreover, the appointment of the new ambassador to Nepal is also being viewed with a lot of opinion by leaders of some of the political parties.

Unlike his predecessor, Qui, a former deputy director-general at the Asia department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, is very active in Nepal’s political circles.

Qiu has already kicked up a major controversy by meeting the Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam and Defence Ministers Ram Bahadur Thapa before presenting his credentials to the head of state.