No anti-neighbor activities, please!

The Nepali government on Sunday foiled voting to nominate candidates for prime minister and members of Tibetan government-in-exile. As Nepal hosts a significant number of Tibetan refugees, from the Tibetan point of view, it was alright to let the Tibetan living in Nepal cast their votes to choose their next prime ministerial candidates. However, from Nepal’s standpoint, which adheres strictly to the one-China policy, and which has made commitments to both our neighbors, India and China, that it would not let any activities from its soil that undermines their national security and territorial integrity, the voting process was outright against its foreign policy and local laws. There is no question that if the voting was allowed, especially at a time when China has repeatedly raised the issue of anti-China activities in Nepal, it would have been viewed by the Chinese side as one in a series of anti-China activities (read pro-Tibetan independence activities). By stopping the voting, the government has sent a clear signal to the Tibetans living in Nepal not to do anything that would sabotage Nepal’s friendly ties with China, and has upheld our commitment to one-China policy. Tibet, being a sensitive issue linked with China’s national security and territorial integrity, the government’s decision to stop the voting was quite appropriate. 

While we sympathize with the Tibetans who, for one reason or the other, are forced to live in exile – about 20,000 of them in Nepal – we certainly expect them to respect the laws of the country, and not do anything that make us appear insincere in front of our northern neighbor. Certain outside powers and their agencies who have time and again supported, encouraged and funded Tibetan political movements in Nepal should not make Nepal a ground to foster their anti-China agenda. The outside powers, because of the clout they enjoy when dealing with China, should raise the Tibetan issue with China directly, instead of launching and funding agitations from Nepal, if they are really concerned about Tibetans in Tibet and elsewhere. 

Both China and India, the two emerging Asian giants, mean a lot to us. Because of our geographic location and an absence of a strong and stable government in recent times, many anti-China and anti-India groups are finding it easier to operate from Nepali territory. For us, to translate the commitments we have made in words into action, we have to be ever vigilant of such groups who are here to make Nepal a launching pad of anti-China and anti-India activities. We have to assure both our neighbors that we will do all we can to stop any activities against them