Nepalese Prime Minister KP Oli with Chinese President Xi Jingping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, in June 2018. File photo/Xinhua
ANI
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 23 October 2019
A top US diplomat has claimed that China’s increased influence in Nepal has led to the ban on Dalai Lama’s birthday celebration in the Himalayan nation.
Alice G Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary of USA, Bureau of South and Central Asia in a briefing to the House of Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Asia and Pacific had made the statement.
“Nepal’s constitution and international commitments guarantee the right to practice and profess one’s faith, but religious freedom remains a challenge in practice. A new criminal code enacted in 2018 restricts “forced conversion” and puts members of religious minority groups a risk,” Wells said.
She further added, “The government has also increased restrictions on the Tibetan Buddhist community, including preventing the public celebration of the Dalai Lama’s birthday. As Chinese influence has grown in Nepal, so has the Government of Nepal’s restrictions on the Tibetan community.”
The statement from a top US Diplomat comes shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s stop-over state visit to the Himalayan Nation.
China always has been searching for a strong commitment from Nepal on its so-called One-China Policy which always has censored events relating to Tibetan refugees who are in the tiny Himalayan Nation since decades.
The Communist Government formed in 2018 with a nearly two-thirds majority under Prime Ministership of KP Sharma Oli this year had banned birthday celebration in Nepal.
The Chief District Office which has been issuing a permission for the celebration of Dalai Lama’s Birthday this year denied granting permission citing orders from the high post.
About 20,000 exiled Tibetans are currently seeking shelter in Nepal and had been marking the birthday of Tibetan Spiritual Leader Dalai Lama annually.
With the uprising against Chinese Rule in March 1959, a number of Tibetan’s fled Tibet and came over into Nepal and spiritual leader Dalai Lama has then been on exile.
Nepal Government’s exaggerated “One China Policy” has downplayed the performance of the government itself.
In the month of July, an American citizen was sent back from Nepal’s airport after Nepali officials misidentified him as a Tibetan Official. At that time also the Chinese Mission in Nepal had asked Nepali authorities to do so.
Previously In the month of May, three journalists of Nepal’s National News Agency were under investigation for translating and dispatching news about the discharge of Dalai Lama from the hospital.
The Nepalese were sympathetic to the Tibetans in the 60s and 70s. King Mahendra turned a blind eye to the existence of the Tibetan freedom fighters in Mustang. King Birendra ended the Tibetan resistance in 1972, but there was no change of policy towards the Tibetans. However, it changed soon after the Royal massacre allegedly by the crown prince. The Nepalese communists entered the fray with insurgency and civil war which culminated with the resignation of King Gyanendra in 2008. Until then, there was no objection to celebrate HH’s birthday. However, when the communists came to power and especially with Oli who is a pro-China communist, Tibetans were deported back to occupied Tibet and the ban on HH’s birthday was imposed. The Chinese are giving millions to Nepal to pay for patrolling the Tibet-Nepal border to stop Tibetans escaping into Nepal. It’s not only Tibetans escaping from the CCP but thousands of ethnic Chinese are also leaving China both rich and poor. The case of 39 Chinese nationals dead in a truck in the UK is a stark case of extreme political repression by the regime is making people flee with such dangerous journey. In an eerily similar incident in 2000, another 58 Chinese nationals lost their lives in the same manner. This goes to show the terrible oppression that the CCP is perpetrating in Tibet, East Turkistan, Southern Mongolia and even in China itself. More than sixty percent of rich Chinese are also leaving the country to keep their hard earned wealth safe because in China there is no rule of law and their wealth and property can be confiscated at the whim of the CCP. The CCP is untouchable and above the law. The tragic story of these people demonstrate the China that is an aberration. In Hong Kong thousands are about to flee before 2047 deadline.