# Prem Sagar Poudel
Chinese Communist Party (CPC) politicalburo member Yuan Jiajun, who came to Nepal at the invitation of the Maoist Center chaired by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has returned home. During his four-day stay in Nepal, Yuan gave some important messages to the Nepali leaders.
Yuan’s team, which came to Kathmandu from Sri Lanka on 7th Shrawan (23rd July), started the program of meetings as soon as they landed in Kathmandu. Since the Maoist Center did not coordinate, the Chinese side coordinated the visit. After inviting the Chinese team to visit Nepal, the Chairman of the Maoist Center and Prime Minister Dahal flew to Italy on Shrawan 6 (22nd July) to participate in a program he did not have to go to attend.
In recent times, the government has been getting closer to the US and India. The Maoist Center is expanding its relations with India’s ruling party, the BJP, while Prime Minister Dahal is within the strategy to expand special relations with the United States. As a result, anti-China activities have started to increase in Nepal. The idea of the Maoist center to stop the Yuan visit is also a link in this process.
A Nepali representative led by Agriculture Minister Beduram Bhushal was scheduled to attend the United Nations Food System Summit in Italy. On Shrawan 4 (July 20), Prime Minister Dahal took a proposal directly to the Cabinet and decided to go on a visit. One of the reasons behind this seems to be that elude the meeting with the Chinese leaders. Despite this, the Chinese delegation has left some important messages in Nepal.
The tour management was done by the Maoist Centre. The Maoist Center was not only interested, but also reached the Dwarika Hotel as a guest. They were welcomed by the Chinese representative at the hotel. The Chinese representative put the Maoist leaders in a dinner meeting and gave a message, “In Nepal even if you are not interested, our programs can go ahead. Nepal is our good neighbor. You should take care of that.” To the Maoist method of calling the neighbor and running away from the house, the Chinese representatives said in a roundabout way, “Our presence in Nepal will not decrease even if you want it.”
On the other hand, another message given to the Maoists in that meeting was, ‘Remember old friends while looking for new friends.’ The Chinese representative welcomed the leaders of the Maoist center with a dinner with dishes including Samay baji, pumpkin pudding, and lapsi pickle, and conveyed the message that China is fully informed of Nepali traditions and culture. The discussion began after a virtual meeting between Yuan and Prime Minister Dahal.
Upon landing in Kathmandu, the delegation had a courtesy meeting with President Ramchandra Paudel, Acting Prime Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka. On Monday, Shrawan 8 (Julu 24), a discussion was held with the leaders of the Nepali Congress including Sher Bahadur Deuba President of Nepali Congress. Before flying to Beijing on Tuesday, a meeting was held with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli. In the meeting, Yuan stressed on the implementation of the agreements and agreements reached during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in 2019. During Xi’s visit, under the framework of BRI, an agreement was reached to build a multi-faceted connectivity network across the Himalayas through rail, road, air transport, communication, ports, etc. Nepal has not yet shown any interest in advancing this project.
Not only the US but also India has been pressuring them not to advance Chinese investment projects in Nepal. India has already announced that it will not buy hydropower produced by Chinese and Pakistani investments from Nepal. Even India refused to buy electricity from Tamakosi because it was built by a Chinese contractor. In this situation, the government seems to be working in favor of India and America. India has agreed to convert MCC’s transmission line into an international transmission line. Therefore, when there is no possibility of the Chinese project moving forward from the government level in Nepal, the attention of the team of high-level Chinese leaders who came to Nepal under the leadership of Yuan was more focused on advancing the BRI and alerting the parties that are going to the American-Indian sphere of influence. There is no possibility of solving the problems caused by the habit of Nepali leaders who do one thing in meetings and another in practice.
With the departure of the Chinese representative from Nepal, Maoist leaders have started to say that the team suggested joining hands with the UML. Maoist is thinking of going together with Congress not only for the leadership of the government but also in the upcoming elections. They believe that this idea will be fulfilled because of America. Therefore, they are adamant and clear on the agenda of strengthening relations with America and India by showing China. It seems that after Yuan’s visit, the Maoist leaders began to push forward this work vigorously.
