Enter the Dragon

In the folktales of yore dragons were symbols of power and prosperity. They could bring you riches beyond imagination or destroy you in one fiery breath. Nepal will be playing host to a similarly powerful dragon in the coming future. How much the Nepali government can please the dragon will determine whether we get smoked or rewarded, for this particular dragon has in here one major interest and one only. 

The official visit of the Chinese Premier Wen Jia Bao to Nepal later this month on his way back from the Mekong summit of North East Asian countries along with 11 high level ministers of his cabinet, will be one of the most important visits by a foreign head of state in recent times. The visit has its significance not just because we are playing host to the executive head of a neighboring country but also because this particular neighbor happens to be one of the world’s strongest and fastest growing economies. To top it up it is competing with our other neighbor India, in more ways than one.    

The significance of this visit can be noticed by the arrival of Indian envoys before the Chinese come in. The statement of former Indian envoy Pranab Mukharjee, a few days ago before his departure, that there was no hint of anyone trying to play the China card, should perhaps be taken as a diplomatic warning to anyone in the Nepali political leadership and government to try not to lean too far north, if they wanted to stay in power. The forthcoming visit is already creating ripples as far as the US where American Senator Frank Wolf in a Congress hearing is supposed to have said that if Nepal does not allow for safe passage to Tibetan refugees to the US, the aid money given by the Americans should be cut down.

Nepal’s misfortune is that our rulers have always let themselves be controlled by “bideshi prabhus” and despite all this so called change, they still are. There have been few leaders in our history who have actually stood up against such bideshi prabhus gone bad and faced the consequences bravely, albeit at tremendous costs. Inability to cut this particular weakness of Nepali leaders before it set its roots so deep has led on to even contemporary leadership failing to tackle the problem head on.   

This forthcoming dragon’s priority is its security in the form of Tibet and what it calls “anti China activities”. The Nepali government will no doubt take all measures to ensure there are no embarrassments during the visit. Nepal’s diplomatic relations with our neighbors have always been dictated by the policies of the south and north blocks. For China it is the noise that Tibetan refugees make with the backup of western funded human rights organizations more than any serious security threat. It knows very well that this is not the 1960’s when the US secretly helped dropped weapons to help the Khampa launch attacks against Chinese posts. Time and technology has moved on and China is at the forefront of it. While the concept of giving refuge to any one who seeks protection in Nepal is and always should be a part of our diplomatic policy it is not in Nepal’s interest to allow any activities against any of our neighbors, whether it is China or India, or any other country with whom we have diplomatic relations.

Peaceful protests, however falls within fundamental human rights. Even refugees have the right to freedom of expression. However allowing Tibetan refugees to protest does not mean that they be allowed the freedom to form militant organizations. Not that Tibetan refugees in Nepal have dreadful lives, in fact most Tibetan refugee families residing in Nepal live better lives than most Nepalis do. We have also pledged to give them if not everything at least safe passage to India or anywhere else in the world and should abide by it. Although Tibetan refugees and human rights activists have staged anti Chinese policy protests and the Home Ministry has tried to reign in such whenever wherever possible, there is no real evidence of any militant activity against China here till date, and the status should remain so. In return China will do what it has always done, helped Nepal develop its basic infrastructure besides providing other help. Towards this end the Nepal side has already presented a proposal to the Chinese about building roads in six of the northern districts adjoining the border and building and extending the north south road network.  

However what is important is that it is high time for Nepal to form its own diplomatic policies based on its own principles and even more be able to assert its independence and sovereignty. Nepal needs all the help it can get, but this help should come without it having to compromise on its sovereignty, independence and freedom.

Nepal’s economy can only grow if we are able to cash in on the growth of both our neighbors in the south as well as north. We will never be able to compete with these two large markets so the only way out is to be able to facilitate the growth of both economies. For that Nepal needs to improve on its infrastructure, not just in the horizontal alignment but also in the north south. China already has roads leading to four points in the northern border of Nepal. It has a direct train link to Tibet from mainland China. It is now time to envision a larger transport network that will benefit China, Nepal and India.

Nepal has little to fear from China and everything to offer. It cannot and will never commit the error of trying to assert the Himalaya and below as its territory. Most of Nepal’s basic necessity items come in from the south rather than the north. It is therefore in China’s interest to try and expand the road and transport network towards the south. What remains is for Nepal to convince the Chinese premier and his team that the dragon has nothing to fear and the entire south Asian market to win.

 http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/12/05/enter-the-dragon