China’s Envoy Propagandizing Nepal’s Participation in BRI and GCI, Government Remains Silent

China’s ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, has been making controversial comments one after another in public, raising doubts about the role of the Nepalese government.

Despite Nepal not participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), the ambassador is boldly claiming Nepal’s involvement, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has chosen to remain suspiciously silent on the matter. When he claims Nepal’s participation in the BRI and GCI on social media, the government chooses to remain silent.

Analysts say that this attitude of Nepal will cause trouble in the future. They describe this situation as a trap that will hinder the country’s future. They are commenting claiming that if Nepal is not clear on time, the country will fall into a diplomatic and strategic trap.

However, in the news published in Kantipur Daily, Nepal’s ambassador to China, Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, said that GCI is currently under study. He told Jagdishwar Pandey, a journalist from Kantipur, “GCI is a concept to bring world civilization together. We are currently studying this concept. The Government of Nepal will discuss and decide on this.

Recently, Ambassador Song tweeted on Thursday and claimed that the Dragon Boat Race is the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative, the concept of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He said in a tweet, “Art troupe from the sister city of Pokhara– Linzhi presented a visual feast of Xizang culture.” An important program of the Dragon Boat Race Festival. Another vivid implementation of  Global Civilization Initiative.

Art troupe from the sister city of #Pokhara– Linzhi presented a visual feast of Xizang culture. An important program of the #DragonBoatRaceFestival. Another vivid implementation of #GlobalCivilizationInitiative.#DragonBoatRaceFestival2023 #Pokhara2023#FewaLake2023 pic.twitter.com/wFho86Sk5O

— Ambassador Chen Song (@PRCAmbNepal) June 22, 2023

Nepal is still discussing China’s cooperation proposal for GCI.

The President of the National Assembly, Ganesh Timilsina, who was on an official visit to China a few days ago, was requested by Chinese officials to participate in GSI (Global Security Initiative) and GCI. Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji asked Timilsina to participate in the GSI and GCI while meeting with Timilsina in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Similarly, Ambassador Song also said that Pokhara Airport is under the BRI project. Ambassador Song made such a controversial statement at the first international commercial airway landing event at Pokhara International Airport.

Today, the new Chengdu-Pokhora air route marks a new achievement for the trans-Himalayan multi-dimensional connectivity network between China and Nepal, which is a priority cooperation field between China and Nepal under the BRI initiative. pic.twitter.com/lILgxdXbu7

— Ambassador Chen Song (@PRCAmbNepal) June 21, 2023

Ambassador Song also previously had emphasized the airport’s connection to the BRI during its inauguration. On December 31, the Chinese Embassy in Nepal proudly declared the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA) as a prominent flagship project of the BRI. The statement by Acting Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Wang Xin, during the airport’s inauguration, further solidified the airport’s association with the BRI plan.

However, in reality Nepal had taken a concessional loan of Rs 22 billion for forty years from Exim Bank of China. Its interest rate is 2.75 percent per annum.

The loan agreement between the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and China EXIM Bank had not mentioned the BRI.

The work of Pokhara International Airport had already started even before the BRI scheme enters Nepal. In 2012, an agreement was reached between Nepal and China to build the airport in Nepal. In May 2014, two years before the loan was agreed, China CAMC Engineering was given the construction contract, at a time when China’s BRI was in a nascent phase. Chinese President Xi first announced the idea of BRI in 2013 as ‘One Belt, One Road’.

After Nepal and China signed the framework agreement on BRI in 2017, Nepal had initially selected 35 projects to be undertaken under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship connectivity project. Later, upon Beijing’s request, the total number of projects was whittled down to nine with Pokhara airport off the list.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on January 1 inaugurated a regional international airport built with the Chinese assistance in western Nepal’s tourist hub of Pokhara.

Six months after the airport came into operation, the first international flight landed at Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA) in Kaski on 21st June. A narrow body A319 of Sichuan Airlines touch down in Pokhara, with a scheduled flight from Chengdu Airport in China at 9:06 am.