A cautious China is sending a high-level delegation led by a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party here to assess the situation on the ground and avoid a vertical split in the ruling Communist Party of Nepal, according to media reports on Saturday, almost a week later. of the battle. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli succeeded in dissolving the House of Representatives.
Nepal plunged into a political crisis last Sunday after Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings, recommended in a surprise move the dissolution of the 275-member House, amid a power struggle with the former prime minister. Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
Acting on the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House on the same day and announced new elections on April 30 and May 10, prompting protests from a large part of the Nepal Communist Party (PNC) led by Prachanda, also co-chair of the ruling party.
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China is sending a high-level delegation headed by the Vice Minister of the International Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP) Guo Yezhou to Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post reported.
“Leading a four-member team, Guo is scheduled to land in Kathmandu on Sunday morning on a regular China Southern Airlines flight,” the newspaper reported, citing sources from both factions of the NCP.
Bishnu Rijal, deputy director of the Foreign Relations Department of the Prachanda-led faction of the PNC, said the Chinese side has communicated about Gou’s visit to Kathmandu.
“I don’t have many details to share with you at the moment,” Rijal said in the newspaper.
The Chinese embassy here did not respond to his multiple calls and messages, the newspaper said.
Although no specific details on the schedule for the visit are available, top PNC leaders confirmed that Guo is scheduled to land in Kathmandu on Sunday morning, leading a four-member delegation, My Republica newspaper reported.
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Observers here believe the visit could be to assess the situation on the ground in Nepal following Oli’s decision to dissolve the House of Representatives and the rival faction within the NCP taking to the streets, he said.
Citing sources from the ruling party, the newspaper said that during his four-day stay in Kathmandu, the Chinese vice minister plans to meet with the top leaders of both factions of the party.
The event comes after the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, held a series of meetings with the president and top leaders of the PNC, including Prachanda and Madhav Nepal, who replaced Oli as chairman of the Prachanda-led faction.
During her meeting with Madhav Nepal on Friday, Ambassador Hou, who was concerned about the split in the PNC, asked about the ruling party’s future political course, among other things, the newspaper quoted Rijal as saying.
Hou met with Prachanda on Thursday, who claims control of the ruling party after removing Prime Minister Oli from the positions of leader and parliamentary chairman of the party.
He had also met with Standing Committee member and former energy minister Barsha Man Pun on Thursday, the newspaper said.
Hou’s meeting with Prachanda came two days after he visited President Bhandari at the latter’s office in Sheetal Niwas on Tuesday.
The envoy was said to have discussed the latest political developments following the president’s decision to dissolve the House of Representatives and announce midterm elections.
This is not the first time that China has intervened in Nepal’s internal affairs at a time of crisis.
In May, Hou held separate meetings with President Bhandari, the prime minister and other senior PNC leaders, including Prachanda, as Oli faced mounting pressure to resign.
In July, he met again with several top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister, Prachanda, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam to save Oli.
Several political party leaders had described the series of meetings of the Chinese envoy with the leaders of the ruling party as interference in the internal political affairs of Nepal.
Dozens of student activists carrying banners with anti-China slogans had organized a rally in front of the Chinese embassy here to protest Hou’s interference in Nepal’s internal affairs.
China’s political profile in Nepal has been rising in recent years with billions of dollars in investments under Beijing’s multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including the construction of the Transhimalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network.
In addition to investments, China’s ambassador to Nepal, Hou, has gone to great lengths to gain support for Oli.
The Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of Nepal regularly participated in training programs. In September last year, the PNC had even organized a symposium, inviting some Chinese Communist Party leaders to Kathmandu to train Nepalese leaders on Xi Jinping Thought before the Chinese president’s first visit to Nepal, the Post. reported.
In a cautious reaction to the fast-paced political developments in Nepal, India said on Thursday that it was an “internal matter” of the neighboring nation and that it was the country that should decide according to its democratic processes.
“We have taken note of the recent political events in Nepal. These are internal matters that Nepal must decide according to its democratic processes, ”said Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava in New Delhi.
“As a neighbor and supporter, India will continue to support Nepal and its people to advance on the path of peace, prosperity and development,” he said.
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