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Nepal referred to Tibet as “Xizang” in a statement issued after its new Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli completed a four-day visit to Beijing this week, his first trip outside the country after his election -- not India, as is traditionally the case.
Xizang is a term promoted by Beijing, but Tibetan advocates say it is yet another attempt by China to erase their distinct cultural heritage.
Both moves highlight China’s growing influence in Nepal -- and its hopes to reap the economic benefits of closer ties to Beijing, experts and Tibetan advocates said.
“The joint declaration between Nepal and China in which the word ‘Xizang’ is used instead of Tibet shows the lengths to which Nepal is willing to go to appease China,” said Sriparna Pathak, an associate professor of China studies at the O.P. Jindal Global University in Haryana, India, and a former consultant at India’s foreign ministry.
“This is a complete disregard of the Tibetan cause, the struggle and the history,” she told Radio Free Asia.
“This does not augur well at all for Tibetans living in Nepal.”
China experts cite the promises of millions of dollars of Chinese investment as a reason for the Nepalese government restricting Tibetan activities in the country.
Oli’s extended visit, which ended Thursday, also included an agreement related to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, a grand plan to boost global trade through infrastructure development.
In other signs of China’s influence, Nepali police regularly detain Tibetans in Kathmandu for “questioning” during high profile visits by Chinese officials.
Authorities also increase surveillance on Tibetan refugee settlements during cultural celebrations like the Tibetan New Year or the birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Stalled BRI projects
In the joint statement issued this week by Nepal and China, the two sides emphasized the importance of “law enforcement cooperation.”
China said it is “willing to provide support for Nepal to the best of its capacity through capacity building, including trainings in the field of combating cyber crimes, and assistance of police supplies.”
Nepal signed an initial agreement to join the BRI in 2017, but highway construction and other projects have stalled since then.
Oli’s visit included the signing of a framework agreement to get those projects off the ground with feasibility studies.
China has previously promised to transform Nepal from a “landlocked nation into a land-linked hub.”
Nepal, in turn, has reaffirmed its allegiance to China, particularly on issues related to Taiwan and Tibet, with the use of Xizang in official documents as the latest example.
‘Serving Beijing’s agenda’
The term “Xizang” was first used in official Chinese government diplomatic documents in 2023. Chinese Communist Party scholars had advocated for the use of “Xizang,” which they have said would help promote China’s legitimate occupation and rule of Tibet.
In this week’s joint statement, Nepal “reiterated that Xizang affairs are internal affairs of China, and that it will never allow any separatist activities against China on Nepal’s soil.”
That was another example of China “using its power to make a smaller country serve its political agenda,” said Tencho Gyatso, president of Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet.
“Whatever name is used does not alter the fact that the Tibetan people are suffering under China’s misrule,” she told RFA.
Economic diplomacy
The previous prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, visited Beijing in September 2023.
The joint statement issued afterward only referred to Tibet – not Xizang – but it did state that Nepal would “never allow any separatist activities against China on Nepal’s soil.”
Similarly, just after Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal in 2019, Nepal reiterated its “determination on not allowing any anti-China activities on its soil.”
“Over the years, the space for Tibetans in Nepal has continued to remain constrained,” said Manoj Kewalramani, a China Studies fellow at Bengaluru, India-based Takshashila Institution.
“I think this trend is likely to continue. Beijing has always used economic diplomacy to serve such political ends,” he said. “These are among the strings that come with Chinese money.”
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The BRI framework cooperation agreement highlighted Nepal’s preference for grants instead of loans to fund the projects. That issue delayed the signing of the deal for a day, but both countries eventually agreed on Wednesday to a combination of grants and loans in the framework.
Critics have accused China of “debt diplomacy” – trapping nations with financial liabilities for major infrastructure projects they can ill-afford and which then could might be leveraged for Beijing’s political benefit.
Additional reporting by Dorjee Damdul, Abby Seiff, Tsering Namgyal and Dickey Kundol. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.