Indo-Nepal

CTA Election, Mounting American Persuade And Impact On Nepal-China Relation

Dhakal Bidhur On Sunday, Tibetan refugees are voting to elect the leadership of their government. The final phase of the election, to be held on April 11 in Dharamshala and other cities around the world will elect the next Sikyong (President). The final two candidates with the slogan of ‘Independent Tibet’ are in the contest. The government of Tibetan exile, known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), has meanwhile been waging anti-China activities in favor of an independent Tibet. This year, Lobsang Sangay has completed his second term. Meanwhile, the US has implemented the Tibet Policy and Support Act (TPSA) in line with its strategy of encompassing China. The United States is helping the Tibetan community through an act issued by the United States amid opposition from China. As of December 22, 2020, more than 80,000 voters around the world have registered to vote. Of these, more than 55,000 are in India alone. Big pooling is going to be held in Dharamshala ; the capital of the CTA. Forty-five members will be elected for the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE). Disputes are growing among the Tibetan community over the election of a new Sikyong. Initially, eight candidates appeared in the election race, but in the final competition, two have been selected. Candidates have been campaigning on social media. Penpa Tsering and Kelsang Dorjee Aukatsang are currently vying for the post of head of Tibet’s exiled government. Tsering was also contesting in 2016. He is a former envoy of the Dalai Lama to Washington DC. Dorsi is also the Dalai Lama’s representative for North America. Former Deputy Speaker Dolma Giari has dropped out of the competition. Although she has served as home minister in Tibet’s government-in-exile, it is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. On the other hand, discussions have started among the Tibetan community regarding Dolma’s exit. In Dolma, two men have even started analyzing the politics of Khampa. Those contesting the election have given slogans of unity, education, and patriotism. On the other hand, the current heads of government have been accused of failing to facilitate dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Communist Party. Mounting American Persuade The United States has been attacking China over Tibet. In this case, he is expanding his influence. Diplomatic tensions between China and the United States escalated as the world struggled against COVID-19. At the root of the controversy was the US’s Tibet Policy and Support Act (TPSA). The controversy escalated when the US Congress passed a bill.  American policy on Tibet and reaffirmed the US’s support for the Dalai Lama and the CTA. This Act will result in economic and visa sanctions on any of the Chinese officials who interfere with the succession of the Dalai Lama. Not only that, but the Act will also require Beijing to allow the opening of a US consulate in Lhasa before any new Chinese consulate can be opened in the US. The TPSA passed by the both house of Congress of the US as an amendment to the $1.4 trillion government spending bill and the $900 billion Covid-19 relief package. The Act sets aside, $1 million per annum for the Special US Coordinator on Tibet. $675,000 for scholarship programs, $575,000 for scholarly exchanges, $ 8 million for China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, $6 million for Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal, $ 3.4 million for Voice of America and Radio Free Asia reporting on Tibet, and $3 million for Tibetan exiles have been allocated for the government. Tibet has been a major weapon against the United States in attacking China. Claiming to be the new head of government, Dorjee announced in his election manifesto that he would take the Tibetan independence struggle to the next level. He pledged to expand the capacity of offices in Delhi, Washington DC and Brussels, and Taipei. He also pledged to advance the Tibetan freedom struggle strategically by enhancing coordination with the central government of India. ‘Let’s move forward together for one nation, one people, one struggle; “Let’s use collective energy and resources for great thinking, invention and Tibetan independence, rights and dignity,” he said. Both candidates have ties to the United States. Thus, the US influence on the Tibetan community in the region is likely to increase. This seems to have an impact on Nepal, which has adopted a ‘one-China policy. The strategy of digitizing the activities related to independent Tibet seems to have an impact on Nepal as well. The US always has argued against Nepal on the issue of Tibetan issue. The US Secretary of the State  2019, asked the Nepal government to honor the principle of “non-refoulment”, a cornerstone of international refugee law whereby asylum seekers or refugees can’t be forced to return to a country where they can be subjected to persecution. In his note to the PM, Secretary Pompeo made a special mention regarding Tibetan refugees in Nepal and highlighted Nepal’s reassurance to protect the rights of Tibetans in Nepal, particularly the principle of non-refoulment. Nepal is firmly committed to the One China policy and is also committed not to allow its soil to be used for any inimical activities against China. CTA announcing free Tibet will impact on Nepal-China relations. The aggression activities by upcoming CTA leadership; will have a certain influence on communities settling in Nepal. Winch will certainly impact Nepal’s policy. It is and need to be a great concern to both of the nation. This Article Initially published in The Asia Live in. Click hear to read archive of the original article.

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‘Himalayan Quad’: Western Skeptical On ‘Tran-Himalayan Cooperation’

Dhakal Bidhur Globe is fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. The global powers are fighting themselves for geopolitical supremacy. Nepal’s geopolitical position in South Asia is considered strategically important to all. Two neighbors, China and India, want to keep Nepal aside from them. Meanwhile, for the United States, Nepal has been geography of strategic importance for South Asia. At this time, the Himalayan nation Nepal has been facing a clash between the three power Nations. Nepal, a partner of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRE) proposed by China; is working together and separately with its three friendly nations in various multilateral fora. The US is been working hard to get Nepal, a member of the BRI, to participate in its Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS)- a defense policy. On the other hand, the US is in a way toward investment publicly in Nepal through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). ‘The controversial’ MCC is yet to be passed from the parliament. Together with the IPS, the US has initiated a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) involving Japan, Australia, and India to counter Chinese influence in the region. In particular, the first virtual conference of heads of state/government was held in March this year, 14 years after the forum was first initiated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Interest of each and concern at the conference was China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region; and on the other hand, China’s support in the fight against COVID-19 in this area. At the same conference,US President Joe Biden announced more than a billion vaccines would be distributed in the region by the end of 2022 to reduce Chinese influence. Besides this ‘Quad’, another ‘Quad’ is in term of discussion last months in Indian and western media- ‘Himalayan Quad’ by China with its strategic partner Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. What is the Himalayan Quad and How its Starts? On the 27th of July 2020, Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, China, Nepal, and Pakistan held a video conference on COVID-19. In the meeting chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan foreign ministers were attended.  The Western and Indian media describes it as China’s ‘COVID-19 Diplomacy’. In November 2020, Indian scholar Jagannath Panda in a Journal of Analysis and Information in issue China brief published by the Jamestown Foundation called it as Trans-Himalayan ‘Quad’, and lament toward China as ‘Beijing’s Territorialism’. Indicating this quadrilateral video conference between four nations, Panda offers a new hue on it. The quadrilateral meeting focused on the enhancing Quadrilateral Corporation to encounter the COVID-19 pandemic was roasted as the security alliance and connected toward the Quad as the US, India, Japan and Australia are practicing in the Indo-Pacific region as the ‘Nato’. On April 2021, Yuri M Yarmolinsky, an analyst with the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research and former Consular of Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of India, in an article published in ORF Raisina Debates, noted the meeting as China’s unilateral and expansionist action in the region linking toward the increasing activity of the Quad. As the United States expands its investment in the Asia-Pacific region, Northern neighbor China has also extended a helping hand to neighboring countries. On the quadrilateral meeting ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal supported Wang Yi’s four-point cooperation initiative and thanked China for providing medical and food assistance, and for sharing experience on COVID-19 containment. In particular, the ministers highly commended President Xi Jinping’s initiative to make the vaccine a global public good. According to the FMPRC press release, these three nations will work with China in solidarity to deepen cooperation against COVID-19, strengthen joint response mechanisms, ensure unimpeded trade and transportation routes, facilitate personnel and trade flows, advance the “Silk Road of health”, and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Not only that FMPRC stated that these three nations will work with China to deepen Belt and Road cooperation, accelerate recovery in socio-economic and livelihood development, and promote post-COVID economic growth. This cooperation- Silk Road of Health, initiated by China is been called ‘Vaccine Diplomacy’ by Westerners. Yarmolinsky had added with SCMP this April that China already partners with Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on security and strategic cooperation. ‘Nepal is a strong foothold in the Himalayas in the context of the Sino-Indian territorial dispute, Afghanistan is a significant factor in ensuring security and maintaining stability in Xinjiang,’ he was quoted by SCMP. Beijing and Islamabad have been working on a US$62 billion connectivity and infrastructure project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to grow a China-centered global trading network – and the two sides have also cooperated on tackling security challenges around their shared border. Nepal, meanwhile, receives foreign direct investment and economic aid from Beijing, which has also opened a training academy in the small Himalayan country for the paramilitary police force that guards its border with Tibet. The two nations’ armies have held counterterrorism drills together in the past, too. On a horizon, western media and experts tend to explain this cooperation as a security alliance as ‘Himalaya Quad’. In March, when the Quad leader meeting was held virtually, the Chinese and Russian Foreign ministry meet at Not only that, in March, the first meeting of the Quad was held and the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers hold the bilateral meeting in Guilin city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. The meeting shows the the unity against US and EU in the region. China and Russian have always followed the ‘four-point agreement on showing firm support from each other’, State Councilor Yi stated in that meeting. ‘We should uphold the universally recognized international law. China is willing to further strengthen cooperation with Russia under the multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and BRICS, jointly safeguard multilateralism, maintain the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law, while firmly opposing unilateral sanctions as well as interference in other countries internal

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के हो नेपालसमेत जोडिएको ‘हिमालय क्वाड’ : किन सशंकित हुँदैछन् भारत र पश्चिमा देश?

विधुर ढकाल दक्षिण एसियामा नेपालको भू-राजनीतिक अवस्थिति शक्ति राष्ट्रका लागि रणनीतिक रुपमा रहँदै आएको छ। नेपालका दुई छिमेकी राष्ट्रहरु चीन र भारत आफ्नो प्रभुत्व जमाई राख्न चाहन्छन्। त्यस्तै अमेरिकाका लागि पनि नेपाल दक्षिण एसिया हेर्न रणनीतिक महत्त्वको भूगोलको रुपमा रहँदै आएको छ। यतिबेला हिमालय राष्ट्र नेपाल तीन शक्तिकेन्द्र बिचको टकरावमा पर्दै आएको छ। चीनले प्रस्ताव गरेको बेल्ट एण्ड रोड इनिसिएटिभ (बीआरई)को साझेदार हो नेपाल। विभिन्न बहुपक्षीय मञ्चहरुमा नेपाल तीन छिमेकीसँग एक साथ र छुट्टाछुट्टै रहँदै आएको छ। बीआरआईको सदस्य रहेको नेपाललाई अमेरिकाले आफ्नो रक्षा नीति ‘इन्डो प्यासिफिक स्ट्राटेजी (आईएफएस)’मा सहभागी गराउन अनेक प्रयास गरिरहेको छ। पूरा पढ्नुहोस

के हो नेपालसमेत जोडिएको ‘हिमालय क्वाड’ : किन सशंकित हुँदैछन् भारत र पश्चिमा देश? Read More »

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