Invite that had Beijing riled
Useful Links
» A new way to read online, exact replica of your daily and magazine
» For all you tweety fans out there!
» Allows you to find only those news from any date you choose!
» Search any news/ articles by author/ category/ date/ keyword
KATHMANDU , FEB 23 - China has taken strong exception to failure of top officials, including President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, to adhere to Nepal’s commitment to one-China policy. It has conveyed its displeasure to the government through the Foreign Ministry.
The latest setback to the government came on Sunday after President Yadav, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala and Minister for Culture Minendra Rijal were invited to a little known pro-Tibetan organisation Sechen Maha Bouddha Bihar to mark the 100th anniversary of Dilgo Khenche Rimpochee.
“The president, the Cabinet and the lawmakers, in principle, should solicit opinion from either the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) or the Foreign Ministry when they are not sure about the nature of the inviting organisations,” said a government official familiar with high-level protocol affairs. “This is a serious lapse of diplomatic protocol and gross violation of a policy commitment Nepal has made to China.”
Chinese Military Attaché Col. Cheng Xizhong met Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai on Sunday morning to express his government’s displeasure about a scheduled visit to the Tibetan organisation by the president, foreign minister, a number of other ministers, CA members and senior government officials. The visits were cancelled at the eleventh hour after the Chinese protest.
“It would have been a disaster for the government had the president and senior Cabinet ministers attended the Tibetan programme,” said a senior government official.
Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guhong called on Foreign Secretary Bhattarai on Monday and asked him to adhere to Nepal’s commitment to one-China policy. Following the Chinese protest early Sunday, the Foreign Ministry got into a quick damage control mode, communicating the message to the PMO.
“We quickly communicated the message to the PMO which in turn relayed it to the president, the Cabinet ministers and other official invitees,” said a Foreign Ministry official. “A disaster was averted.”
Posted on: 2010-03-13 04:32
Post Your Comment