China increasing its espionage activities through Nepal’s borders into India

China’s espionage activities against India have seen a sharp upward trend in the past couple of years owing much to the routes available through Nepal for infiltration into Indian borders.

These activities have also gone on to cause significant worries among China’s bordering countries as the advent of such operations by China’s intelligence services have indicated its assertive intentions of causing instability within domestic territories.

Many cases have come to light in which Chinese nationals suspected of spying have admitted to entering the country either through porous borders in Nepal or by using fake identity certificates from Kathmandu. Instances of such activities has also led to propagandic endeavors being initiated specially to discredit any initiative that may seem to be against Chinese interests.

These activities have also been supplemented with honey trapping methods where crucial individuals have been put under surveillance by Chinese agents in order to extract crucial information. The case of an arrest of an Indian journalist along with a Chinese and Nepali citizen was a case in point where similar tactics were deployed to extract sensitive information, Our Sources Claimed.

More recently, the Police services in Delhi caught a Chinese spy operating as a Tibetan monk in the country who was known to have attempted several operations of extracting sensitive information and passing it on to their operators back in China.

During the investigation it was found that the woman, a Chinese spy, was residing in India as a Nepalese citizen and claimed to be a monk as part of her disguise. It was also revealed that her registration documents were forged and was a Chinese national who had travelled to India through Nepal without legitimate documents.

Another incident a little over a year ago brought to light the extent of China’s subversive activities underway in India when Indian agencies uncovered an illegal facility being run by Chinese nationals near Delhi.

The Chinese nationals were revealed to have acted as facilitators for Chinese intelligence operators in their espionage activities of spying upon influential figures.

The racket was uncovered when two nationals from China, who had again travelled through Nepal into India, were apprehended at the Bihar-Nepal border for illegally attempting to enter into Indian territory with unauthenticated documents.

A more recent example was when another Chinese national who was apprehended, visited key Indian installations for gathering sensitive national security details.

The national was arrested on espionage charges near the Gaurifanta, Nepal border. This not only reiterated the increase in Chinese espionage activities but also substantiated the fact that Nepal’s route and the porous border shared between India and Nepal is playing a prominent role in facilitating anti-national activities that threaten its national security.

Another prominent objective of such infiltrators from the Chinese side has been to pose threats to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. A recent case of another Chinese woman under the disguise of a pilgrim came to light in Gaya where a Chinese spy was arrested for attempting to pass over sensitive information to China’s intelligence units.

Numerous other cases have also brought significant attention to an increase in such pervasive activities from Chinese intelligence agencies and more so especially the use of Nepal’s routes to infiltrate into Indian territory.

However, these activities have also caused significant concern within Nepal as well.

The Nepal police Surveillance Chinese intelligence operators who were spreading propaganda against U.S within Nepal and creating an unstable domestic environment against American assistance in the country.

Chinese national Ning Lin’s name features at the top of the security authorities’ list of those involved in crafting anti-MCC rhetoric in Nepal.

According to the secret report, Lin, (also known as “Oscar Ning”), a Chinese intelligence agency Ministry of State Security (MSS) official, carries two passports (PE 0350392, PE1732779) and is said to have come from the Chinese province of Hubei.

The 50-page document on Chinese intelligence activities in Nepal — contains more than five pages of details about Lin, including his activities, connections, contacts, mechanism, names of Nepali leaders and journalists.

Moreover, a recent report by a Nepali newspaper claimed that Nepalese security officials revealed that Chinese intelligence agencies were actively playing a prominent role in souring Kathmandu’s relations with other countries and more importantly with India. The report also stated that several Chinese spies from China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) had infiltrated into the country under the disguise of journalists and businessmen.

In light of such activities, it would be mindful to state that Indian agencies must lay more emphasis on Chinese subversive activities that are significantly rising through its neighbouring regions.

These activities are also suspected to increase due to rising tensions between India and China owing to the border clash in Galwan that led to casualties. India therefore must create greater understanding with its Nepali counterparts in an attempt to restrict such actions from Kathmandu and cooperate in bilateral intelligence sharing mechanisms that can aid in preventing such cases to take shape.

Although Nepal itself, to a certain extend is prone to such Chinese activities, it must also seek to comprehend the extend of Chinese espionage in its own domestic endeavours as well; for Beijing’s sinister actions are not only meddling with India’s national security but is eventually also threatening Kathmandu’s political stability as well.