Last Monday, Gajendra Budhathoki, a reputed Nepali journalist, wrote a post on his personal social media page X about Pokhara Airport, built on Chinese loan. “The loan taken for the Pokhara airport was said to have an interest rate of 2 percent but it is five percent,” he wrote. Immediately afterward, Chen Song, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, reacted with the comment: “If you have the document, make it public. If not, show proof.” In addition, the Chinese ambassador raised questions about the intention of the journalist merely due to the fact that he wrote on social media. Budhathoki, the chief editor of Taxar News, one of the prominent magazines in economic affairs, told Chen Song not to intimidate him (Budhathoki) and suggested that he adhere to his diplomatic jurisdiction. Again, the Chinese ambassador asked Budhathoki to apologize.
The reaction by Chen Song triggered comments on social media. Journalists, including former diplomats of Nepal, expressed their response that the Chinese ambassador should not overstep his limitations in the name of public diplomacy, some even suggesting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal write a diplomatic note to the ambassador about the issue.
This is not the first incident where a Chinese ambassador has written about Nepali journalists in a threatening tone.
Why do such incidents keep happening in Nepal? Why do Chinese diplomats often forget the truth that Nepali journalists are used to breathing in an open democracy?
Before Chen Song, Hou Yanqi was the ambassador of China to Nepal in 2018. Throughout her four-year tenure, she practiced aggressive diplomacy. Observing internal politics of Nepal is genuine, but Yanqi went beyond that and appeared to interfere in political affairs. She is said to have played a significant role in unification of communist parties.
Chinese agencies, especially the media, tried to mislead Nepal in different ways over Nepal’s sovereign decision to accept the MCC grant project of the US. Similarly, in 2020, when The Kathmandu Post published an article (extracted from elsewhere) titled China’s secrecy has made coronavirus crisis much worse, the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu vehemently objected to that story. Following the knee-jerk reaction of Yanqi, seventeen editors of Nepali media had to oppose the then Chinese envoy.
Such unsolicited remarks and opposition against Nepali media and journalists do not help in Nepal-China relations.
Nepal-China diplomatic relations is over 70 years old. Chinese officials must have witnessed the firsthand depth of Nepali people’s faith and trust in democracy. Furthermore, Nepali media has always carried out its duty as a defender of democracy. Even in Nepal, a pluralistic nation, political parties have long been practicing democracy inside their respective parties. Not only the Nepali media but a common Nepali citizen can question the power and political parties on any matters here.
The activities of Chinese diplomats in Nepal must have been influenced by the orientation they receive in their home country. In China, power is filtered upward through the party politburo, through the standing committee of the politburo, and ultimately to the only truly powerful persons such as CPC’s general secretary, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and the country’s president, who is at the apex of power. It is said that in the hierarchy of power Chinese people stand at the last rung. Communist Party is considered as all-powerful.
Vikram Sood, advisor at the Observer Research Foundation, India, writes in his book The Ultimate Goal: “It is this CCP led by Xi Jinping that has decided to step up a well-organized campaign to reshape the world in its own interests by influencing and interfering in other countries. Around 2018, this campaign went on for some years, but it has never been as confrontational and coordinated as in last years. It is not just through aggressive open diplomacy but also through covert means that the CCP seeks to undermine democracies that are seen as threats to the Chinese system. China, which used to maintain ‘silence diplomacy’ until the last breathing monarchy, has begun to exert influence from politics to the media in the last decade.”
China is wrong to think that what it says is the truth and what others say are all lies. China thinks that China’s way of life should be the world’s way of life, China’s political philosophy should be the world’s philosophy. It is this worldview which puts China on collision with democratic world. No one can suppress the right to ‘free speech’ guaranteed by the constitution of Nepal. There are communist parties in Nepal, but Nepali journalists believe in democracy.
Like Nepal is China’s neighbor, China is Nepal’s. Its envoys in Nepal should desist from creating psychological pressure on Nepali journalists and media.
Randhir Chaudhary is associated with the Peace Development Research Center (PDRC).
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