An investigation by the Nepalese government has found that China is encroaching into Nepalese territory along its north-western border.
After informal news of China's trespass into Nepal's Humla district became public, the government commissioned an investigation by Joint Secretary of the Home Ministry, in September 2021. News reports and eyewitness accounts had been circulating over the last two years that China had constructed buildings on the Nepalese side of the border in Humla.
Chinese aggression towards #Nepalese border is unacceptable.Its been time government needs to speak up about the issue. #Nepal can't tolarate and lose inch of its land against any of its so called neighbour. #China #Nepal #Border #India #Limi #lapcha #humla #kalapani #lipulekh pic.twitter.com/JdYWKQrOeP
— Nepal Revised (@tarvado) November 5, 2021
The Nepalese home ministry team studied border areas in the Limi valley and found evidence of China's encroachments into the Nepalese side of the border. The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu has refuted allegations of encroachment to the BBC but did not answer its questions.
Kathmandu had, over the past few years, been inching closer to Beijing in an effort to balance its relations with India. The previous communist government in Nepal had denied that China had violated Nepalese sovereignty despite the fact that Nepali people had been protesting in Kathmandu regularly over months.
The BBC says that Nepal sent a task force comprising police and government officials to Humla. The task force found that China had increased surveillance in Nepalese territory. It had also stopped Nepalese farmers from indulging in grazing activities in the area.
The investigation found that China was building a fence around a border pillar and was attempting to construct a canal and a road on the Nepalese side of the border.
China also restricted unofficial cross-border movement of pilgrims and traders across the border. Humla lies close to Mount Kailash, which is a sacred site for Hindus and Buddhists attracting large numbers of Indian pilgrims.
The Nepal government has not made the report public but some of the salient features of the report are:
Nepal should deploy more troops into the area to provide security to its border citizens.
Nepal and China should reactivate mechanisms to resolve border issues.
The BBC report quotes Nepali experts as saying that China might have encroached upon Nepalese territory in a bid to prevent the escape of Tibetans into Nepal and India due to repression in Tibet. China might also be worried that there could be infiltration into Tibet also.
Meanwhile, Nepalese people continue to hold protests against China in Kathmandu. The latest demonstration against China's border intrusion took place in January 2022.
China has intruded in and attacked a number of countries with a view to taking over territory in the last couple of years coinciding with the spread of the Covid-19 virus from Wuhan. In the last two years it has taken over territory in Nepal, India and Bhutan in South Asia as well as attacked or threatened to attack Japan, Taiwan and numerous countries in south-east Asia.
