Beijing, Mar 27 (PTI) China welcomed Nepal’s new Prime Minister Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ as it seeks to recast two decades of Nepal policy anchored in Communist Leaders K P Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who sought to move Kathmandu closer to Beijing, weakening its traditional ties with India.
Congratulating Shah who was sworn in on Friday as Prime Minister, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told media here on Friday that China always supports Nepal in safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and in realising solidarity, stability, development and prosperity.
China stands ready to work with the new Nepalese government to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen practical cooperation, and advance the strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity.
The massive victory of the four-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) riding high on last year’s Gen-Z protests, which led to the resignation of the Oli government, marks a new normal in Nepal’s recent history, marking an end to the dominance of communist parties, which gained political prominence after the abolition of the monarchy in the Himalayan nation in 2008.
China stepped up engagement with communist parties, especially the CPN-UML headed by Oli and the CPN (Maoist Centre) led by Prachanda, who advocated for closer political and economic ties with China.
Both Prachanda and Oli, who became Prime Ministers three times each since 2008, played important roles in helping China to advance its influence in Nepal with initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
But importantly, they signed up to the One China policy under which Nepal effectively closed the Tibet border, which halted hundreds of Tibetans from crossing over India to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
Observers say the sudden decline of the two leaders marks a titanic shift in Nepal’s politics, and China will try to engage with the Balen Shah government to retain the border controls in Tibet and halt Tibetans from crossing over.
Critics say BRI projects failed to make headway due to political bickering between Oli and Prachanda.
Though Nepal signed up to the initiative in 2017, none of the 10 projects has moved beyond planning, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Chinese projects in Nepal have also been mired in controversies, with critics accusing Oli and Prachanda of awarding infrastructure contracts without transparency or due diligence, the Post report from Nepal said.
Last year, Nepal’s anti-corruption agency filed charges against former ministers, bureaucrats and a Chinese state-owned company in connection with a multimillion-dollar embezzlement during the construction of China-funded Pokhara International Airport.
The post-election scene in Nepal marks a sharp contrast to China.
Oli, who was forced to resign as Prime Minister last year after Gen-Z protest failed to win his seat in the recent general elections, while Prachanda managed to win his seat.
The RSP secured a massive 182 seats out of a total 275 seats in the House of Representatives, trouncing all established parties, including the pro-India Nepali Congress.
The decline of these parties therefore represents more than an electoral shift — it disrupts a diplomatic architecture that provided China with both ideological alignment and policy continuity, a commentary in Nepal’s Annapurna Express newspaper said.
For Beijing, this shift complicates its long-standing approach of engaging Nepal primarily through ideologically sympathetic partners, it said.
Emerging leaders such as Balendra Shah have also demonstrated a more assertive posture on sovereignty and foreign engagement, including decisions to cancel China visits and distance themselves from certain embassy-backed initiatives.
This evolving stance signals a potential recalibration in Nepal’s foreign policy tone, it said.
Huang Yunsong, deputy director of Sichuan University’s Institute of South Asian Studies, said RSP’s victory presented “structural opportunities” to strengthen China-Nepal relations.
For “China, the focus is not on whether to realign the relationship, but how to connect with each other. China will closely follow RSP’s foreign policy agenda and attempt to accurately align BRI”, he told the Post. PTI KJV PY RD PY PY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.