OPINION (Spotlight Weekly)

Some Thoughts On Sino-Nepal Relations

By Prof. Wang Hongwei, Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Beijing

Most of those who have visited Nepal know the following beautiful legend that, according to Swayambhu Purana, Kathmandu Valley was once a huge lake full of dragons and snakes and simply unsuitable for mankind to settle down. Later, Buddhisatva Manjusri while roaming, came here from China. He found the environment was fine and was really a nice place. Then, Manjusri played his magic arts and cut open the mountains in the South to let out water and built a Swayambhunath. The place has come top be known as Nepal ever since.

Though a legend, it reflects the age-old relations between China and Nepal and mirrors the profound friendship between the two people, and therefore has eternal charm.

China and Nepal are close neighbors. From time immemorial, the people of China and Nepal, especially those living by some 1400 kilometer long common borders, had had close economic, social and cultural contacts. They went through over 20 passes such as Kodari (Kuti) pass, Rasuwa (Kerong) pass, Namja pass and Gya pass etc to visit friends and relatives, make pilgrimages to sacred places, and to graze and trade. Just as Professor Dor Bahadur Bista, a noted Nepalese scholar, had written, "Until the beginning of ninteenth century, Nepal shared greater cultural affinity with, and had greater economic interest in Tibet than India. There were more Nepalese in Tibet that anywhere else outside Nepal : and there were more people of Tibetan than Indian origin in Nepal". ("Nepalese in Tibet" Contributions to Nepalese Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1, December 1980). The plain in south of Nepal was then covered with tropical primeval forests and plagued by malaria, miasma and other tropical diseases. In addition to these, wild beasts and robbers also made it practically impossible for ordinary people to pass through. The mountain paths, in the north, though rugged and meandering through severely cold regions, were much safer and passable in comparison. Therefore, the Tibetan and Nepalese inhabitants of the border area had far greater contacts that the people of Nepal and India.

However, Nepal's contact with Tibet proper began formally only in the first half of the seventh century. In 639, the Neaplese King Amshu Varma gave his daughter Princess Vrikuti to Strong-Tsam Gambo (617-650), the ruler of China's Tibet region, in marriage. Strong-Tsam Gambo sent a big bridal party to receive his bride, and the Nepalese subjects went a long way to see their princess off. The event not only brought into being a regular way between Tibet and Nepal, but also laid a good foundation for building the southern section of an international road between China and wester regions -the turbo Nepal road.

The cultural exchange between China and Nepal formerly began in 406 when a Chinese learned monk, Fa Xian (c. 337 - c. 422), visited Lumbini. The famous Nepalese monk Buddhabhadra (399-429) came to China to disseminate the tenet of Buddhism. Since then, envoys of all sorts had traveled to and fro between them, and Nepal had begun to appear in China's historical records and other books. In 635, Xuan Zang, another noted Chinese learned monk visited Lumbini.

In 641, the reigning Tang emperor married a daughter of the imperial family to Strong-Tsam Gambo, and with the entry of Princess Wincheng into Tibet, the route from Gansu to Tibet via Qinghai (ie the northern section of the international Turbo-Nepal road) was built and came into use. In 643, when the Tang diplomatic envoys Li Yi-biao and Wang Xuan-ce went to visit India, they took the route of Princess Wincheng and then took the way by which Princess Vrikuti had entered Tibet. They went to Nepal through the Kuti pass ( the present day Nyelam pass), visited Kathmandu and was warmly received by the Nepalese King Narendra Deva. In 647, as a return visit, Nepal sent an envoy to the Tang court to establish friendly relations with it. In 648, 657 and 664, Wang Xuan-ce paid three more visits to Nepal.

It too Wang Xuan-ce only nine months to get to Magadha in North India when he first visited the country, for he went by the Turbo-Nepal road which he helped open up and bring into the use instead of the Silk Road, a treacherous and time consuming route to traverse. Take Fa-Xian for instance. He left Changan in 399, passed Dunhuang, crossed the desert, skirted the Taklamakan desert and reached Khotan. From there, he scaled the Congling (the Pamir) and climbed the snow-covered mountains and reached India in the sixth year. Only in the seventh year did he arrive at the Buddhist sacred places in the plain of southern Nepal. When Xuan Zang (602-664) left for India in 627, he took basically the same route and managed to visit Nepal only in 635. With the opening og the Turbo-Nepal road, monks going to study Buddhism in the western regions and envoys from China, Nepal and other South Asian countries all took this time-saving route over a long period of time. It played an important part in the cultural and economic intercourse between the people of China and those of Nepal and other South Asian countries.

During the Tang Dynasty, the relations between China and Nepal were very close, and envoys visited each other's countries frequently. This can be seen in the following two historic events. The first was Strong-Tsam Gambo's help to Narendra Deva. After the death of Nepalese King Amshu Varma, Udaya Deva suceeded to the throne. Not long after, he was killed by his younger brother, and crown prince Narendra Deva fled to Tibet to ask for help. Strong-Tsam Gambo gave him a hand and helped him to ascend the throne in 643. The second was Wang Xuance's defeating Arjuna. When Wang paid his second visit to Central India in 648, Siladitya, a king very friendly to China, had just been dead, and the throne in Kanauji fell into the hands of a subject named Arjuna. Arjuna refused to let the envoy sent by China during Siladitya's lifetime enter the country, arrested all the members of the mission and looted the gifts given to it by various countries. Wang Xuance "bravely effected his escape under cover of night and fled to Tubo (Tibet). There, he received reinforcements and went back at the head of 1200 picked troops and a Nepalese cavalry 7000 strong". Together with his deputy Jiang Shiren, he led his forces into action, defeated and captured the usurper, and safeguarded the friendly relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Central India.

During the Tang Dynasty, an event of far-reaching significance in the history of Sino-Nepalese cultural exchange happened. The Chinese paper-making technique was introduced to Nepal, and then, from Nepal to India. The concrete time of the introductions, according to the textual research of some expert concerned, is between 650 to 670.

During the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and the Yuan Dynasty, contacts between Nepal and China were regularly maintained. In 964, the emperor of Taizu of Song sent 300 monks, including Ji Ye, to India to "seek Buddhist relics and Buddhist scriptures written on pattra leaves. They passed Nepal on their way back and returned to China in 976.

In 1260, the Yuan emperor Kublai Khan ordered the state tutor Phagasba, who was in charge of Tibetan affairs, to have a golden pagoda built in Tibet. So Arniko, the noted Nepalese artisan, came to China to build the pagoda. He fulfilled his task the following year. Surprised at his capability, the state tutor brought him to Dadu (now Beijing), the capital of Yuan Dynasty. By the order of Kublai Khan, Arniko restored in 1265, a bronze figure showing acupuncture points made in the Song Dynasty then laid broken with no one being able to repair it. The renovated figure, complete with acupuncture points and channels, won the acclamation and admiration of all smiths with its ingenuity. He was appointed in 1273 Superintendent of China's artisans with full authority. In 1278, to award his artistic achievements, the Yuan court bestowed on him the title of Guanglu Daifu, Da Situ (official posts with the rank of minister) and the honor and salary of a prime minister.

Arniko worked in China for over 40 years and made indelible contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and Nepal. His contributions covered many fields such as architecture, painting, sculpturing and apparatus etc, because of limitation of space it could not be dwelt on here. However, it should be noted that most of those who have ever visisted Beijing must have seen the towering and magnificient white pagoda inside Fuchengmen Gate, which is a vivid example of what contributions Arniko had made for the cultural relations between the two countries.

Since the early years of the Qing Dynasty, some Nepalese had begun to settle in China's Tibet, the number reaching several thousands at the peak period. They lived in Gyangtse, Xingaze, Yatung and particularly in Lhasa. They were mostly businessmen, but not few were coppersmiths, silversmiths and other artisans who passed to China Nepalese artistry likewise in daily life. The successive Dala Lamas all gave assistance, help and protection to renowned Nepalese artisans, being lovers of the elaborate gold and silver bowels and pots, musical instruments and ornamets the latter were good at making. These artisans also foiled temple buildings whose glittering gold coverings remained untarnished for a long, long period. Their skills undoubtedly made some impact on the workmanship of Tibetan brothers.

Sino-Nepalese cultural exchange also demonstrated in many other aspects. For example, the Nepalese call litchi and peanut respectively leechee and Chinese pea,, and gold fish is Chinese gold fish to them. This indicates that they must have gradually spread from China to NEpal in the long years of close cultural intercourse. There are also some plants in China coming originally from Nepal. It is recorded in the New History of Tang Dynasty that in 647 "Nipoluo sent an envoy to the Tang court with presents of belong ( ), zuocai ( ) and hundicong ( )."

With the increase of contacts between the two people, some Nepalese music and dances found their way into China during the Qing Dynasty.

From the brief review I have made above, it can be seen that China and Nepal have had almost 2000 years of cultural exchange. In the long years of intercourse, the people of the two countries have untiringly deepened their traditional friendship and enriched and developed their national cultures. We should carry on this fine tradition and make still greater contribution to the development of the friendship and cultural ties between our two people.

China and Nepal are close neighbors, the two people have had friendly contacts from generation to generation and have a profound traditional friendship for almost 2000 years. In modern history, both nations have suffered colonialist aggression and outrages, and had a taste of humiliations in terms of nationhood and sovereignty. Having achieved liberation and independence respectively, both of them face the arduous task of maintaining their sovereignty, national independence and building their respective countries. The common historical destiny, common position and common goals make them easier to understand and sympathize with each other in minds and sentiments. These have created most favorable conditions for further developing the traditional friendship and friendly relations from generation to generation between China and Nepal.

Forty-five years have passed since the formal diplomatic relations were established between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal. During this period, especially since both governments established the embassy in each other's capital in 1960, the bilateral relations have recorded an unprecedented development. Looking back at the path taken by China and Nepal in developing their good-neighborly relations in the last 45 years, we can say without the slightest hesitation that, Sino-Nepalese relations have not only weathered the stormy international situations, but also have become a fine example for friendly peaceful coexistence between countries with different political systems.

What distinct features do the Sino-Nepalese relations have? It seems to me that they have at least the following aspects:

First, both sides agreed in 1955 when they established formal diplomatic relations that the Five Principles whould be the basic guidelines for bilateral relations. Actions of both sides in the last 45 years indicate that this promise has been well kept. Mutual trust, therefore, has been instilled. This mutual trust will certainly push forward the bilateral relations developing in wider scope and in depth.

China and Nepal's political systems are different, the difference of the size between their territories and populations is enormous big, yet they have been coexisting for the last several decades and having a harmonious relations. China has been advocating that all countries, big and small, rich and poor, strong and weak, are equal members of international community, the internal affairs of each country should be handled by the people of that country itself and important worldwide affairs should be settled through negotiation by all countries on equal terms and the basis of mutual respect. This proposition is also met with full approval from Nepalese side.

Generally speaking, a small country is more sensitive than a large one to the question whether interactions between them is really following the Five Principles. Therefore, it is more appropriate and convincing to examine Nepal's comments on the bilateral relations that to cite China's words. professor yadu Nath Khanal, a distinguished Nepalese scholar and diplomat and longtime ambassador to China, expressed satisfaction with China's attitude towards Nepal in an interview in 1982 when he no longer was the envoy in Beijing. This example is perhaps a little far back., I should give here a recent one. In December 1996, when President Jiang Zemin paid a formal visit to Nepal as the Head of China, Mr. Manmohan Adhikaru, a former Prime Minister of Nepal, said to him that the Nepal-China relations could be called a model of relations between nations. In view of their experiences and positions, their comments are authoritative.

Second, there was also a border issue left over by the history between China and Nepal, but the two countries settled in properly "in a spirit of fairness, reasonableness, mutual understandding and mutual accomodation and trhough friendly consultations." In 1961, the two countries signed China-Nepal border Treaty; in 1979, the two countries signed a new protocal on the border issue, completing the definition and demarcation of boundaries and throughly settling this historical issues. Since then, there has been no issue but frindship between China and Nepal. The settlment symbolized the peaceful coexistance and freindship of the two countries, and also created a solid base and reliable condition for further development of all aspects concering bilaterial relations.

From the perspective of curreng international situation and the ups and downs of relations between nations, it is not diffiuclt to realize the importance of solving border issues by following the principales mentnioned above.

Third, the unceasing mutual visits between the high level of leaders China and Nepal have promoted the uninterrupted growth of mutual understanding and mutual trust, thus having made the trees of friendship evergreen wchich were planted and cultivated by elder generations inusgtriously.

The leaders of elder generations of both coungtries, such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian and King Mahndra, B.P. Koirala and so on, exchganged their visists. King Birendra has visited China for nine times, and former Prime Minister Zhao Ziyant and Li Peng and Chairman Li Ruihuan have also vistied Nepal one after another. AFter 1990, the relations between Chinese Communist party and different parties of Nepal was established. Prime minister of Nepal like Girija Prasad Koirala, Man Mohan Adhikary, Sher Bahadur Deuba and leaders like Suryua Bahadur Thapa, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Tamang Thungama, Ram Chandra Paudel and others visited China. In December 1996, president Jiang Zemin met His Majesty King Birendra in Kathmandu, having just received him in Beijing, in August the same year.

Owing to both countries treating each other with good faith and sincerity, they have become honest and dependable friends. Both sides can always understand each other and support each other, whether in regional or in international affairs. China has been supporting Nepal in its struggle for safeguarding national sovereignty and independence, and doing everything it can in Nepal's economic construction, especially in infrastructure and cultivation of technical forces. Nepal has been standing for justice and giving China energetic support in many important affairs. For example, the government of Nepal has emphasized once and again that nobody would be allowed to conduct separatist and anti-China activities by exploiting Nepal's territory; the government of Nepal has been dhering to "one China" policy and admitting that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. Since 1990, some western countries have for nine times put forward successively in the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations a so-called draft resolution to attack China viciously, in all these struggles, Nepal has always stood by the side of China and made its contributions in frustrating the anti-China intrigues of the western countries in the Human Rights Commission.

Fourth, the international situations have undergone drastic changes in the later 1980' and 1990. Owing to the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and the ending of the cold war, Sino-Indian relations have gradually been normalized and back to the track. The improvement of Sino-Indian relations have not influenced the development of Sino-Nepalese relations, but created favourable conditions for them. This is because firstly that, Sino-Nepalese relations have stood the severe tests of changes of internationalsituation, and the government and people of China treasure the invaluable friendly relations which already existed between the two countries very much, and pay fully attention on developing the bilateral relations. Furthermore, during the cold war, India was too sensitive to China's activities of developing even normal relations with its south Asian neighbours, now, with the increasing improvement of Sino-Indian relations, this kind of sensitivity will definitely be reduced day to day. This is certainly favorable for China and Nepal to develop their friendly relations in depth freely.

President Jiang Zemin's state visit to Nepal in 1996, demonstrated clearly what attention China paid to developing Sino-Nepalese relations. During the visit, President Jiang Zemin exchanged views with King Birendra and other leaders of Nepal on international situation and matters of interest to both sides. As President Jiang Zemin pointed out on December 4, 1996 at the banquet in his honor hosted by His Majesty King Birendra, "the reason why China and Nepal are able to maintain an everlasting friendly relations of mutual trust and mutual benefit is that both sides give prominence to 'sincerity' this word in the bilateral relations. Our two countries have no fundamental conflict of interest, treating each other as equals, being friendly and trusty, mutual support and sincere cooperation have already become the basic character of Sino-Nepalese relations." Both sides have agreed to strive to developeverlasting friendly and good-neighborly relations and partnership between China and Nepal under the new historical conditions.

Economic cooperation and cultural exchanges are also important aspects of Sino-Nepalese friendly relations. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, exchanges in the cultural field have developed rapidly. As space is limited, here only the economic cooperation would be discussed briefly. Since 1950's, the economic cooperation between China and Nepal have developed continuously width and depth. Looking back at the path we have passed in the last 45 years, the economic cooperation of the two countries could be divided into three periods.

Before 1980's the form of economic cooperation btween the two countries was comparatively very simple: mainly limited to trade contacts and the economic aid provided to Nepal by China according to its own capability. Besides a small amount of cash grant, the aid included a number of engineering projects in Nepal undertaken by technicians and workers of both countries. China's aid, though modest, was given out of sincerity to assist Nepal in developing its national economy and did not attach any politica preconditions. Chinese aid personnel did not demand special treatment but fully devoted themselves to the projects and treated Nepalese workers as equals and friends, leaving good impressions in the minds of the Nepalese people. Every single projects thus represents a symbol of friendship between the two countries.

The second period covered more than a decade from early 1980's to mid 1990's. Having entered the 1980's, China and Nepal tried to find more effective ways of pursuing economic cooperation between the two countries. King Birendra, during his visit to China in 1982, said, "The people of Nepal hope for building of new areas of economic cooperation which will be of mutual benefit to both our peoples." And Vice Chairman Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme of the National People's Congress Standing Committee said during his delegation's visit to Nepal the following year that the two peoples "will make common efforts to create a new frontier for friendly cooperation and to consolidate and strengthen Sino-Nepalese friendship." As a result, new forms of economic cooperation apppeared.

The distinguishing feature of economic cooperation in this period was that, besides providing aid in its ability, China began to contract to build a series of large engineering projects in Nepal. The Sunsari - Morang irrigation project was an example, which was contracted to China on April 12, 1983. The main components of the project involved repairs to the present irrigation system that supplied water to 11,200 hectare of land, and certain other reconstructions. The schedule called for completion in three years at a cost of 14.5 million US dollars funded through a loan from the World Bank. The Sunsari-Moran project was China's first large engineering undertaking in Nepal and indicated that diversified economic and technical cooperation between the two countries had entered a new period.

In this period, China contacted a number of engineering projects in Nepal, the total sum amounted to a few hundred million US dollars. And, it was said that in undertaking those contracted projects, the companies and corporation involved often lost money in their running account, but it was of practical significance that through this form of cooperation, Chinese side could make comparatively larger contribution to the economic development of Nepal with comparatively small input. In addition to the above, China also promised long term credit to finance Nepal's purchase of Chinese commodities and products for the purpose of construction.

The third period of economic cooperation between the two countries began from mid 1990's. The distinguishing feature of this period of cooperation was that, besides aid provided continously by China in its ability, both sides try to mobilize non-governmental forces to join the bilateral cooperation. The mark of it was the constitution of China-Nepal Non-Governmental Cooperation Forum in April, 1996. This was a good and significant development which would help both the countries to develop ties at people's level.

Since its formation, the Forum has already made significant achievements in bringing the business communities of the two countries together, exploring and initiating mutually beneficial joint ventrue projects in Nepal and suggesting needful policy reforms and other recommendation to the governments of both countries. By the end of 1999, there have already been 8 Chinese joint Venture projects operating in Nepal, while 12 are licensed and 4 are under construction. This is just a beginning. No need for reticence to say that there are many difficulties in front of us. But we are confident that with the untiring efforts of both sides, they can be tackled step by step. Furthermore, we must see that there are also many advantageous conditions and there are enough reasons for us to believe that the future is bright:

1. Both China and Nepal are perusing the policy of economic reforms and private sector-led growth, the private sector of both countries have to play an increasingly important role for promoting economic cooperation between the two countries.

2. Both China and Nepal are in the process of obtaining membership of the World Trade Organization, this can also contribute to creating favorable conditions for fostering greater trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

3. From 2000, China has declared to carry out a strategy of developing the

western region of the country. With the passing of time, this will definitelystrengthen Sino-Nepalese cooperation ina larger scale.

4. There is tremendous potentiality for establish China-Nepal joint investment projects in Nepal, especially in the areas of hydropower, agricultural and forest based industries and tourism-related industries.

5. Nepal's comparative advantage for establishing manufacturing base in this areas and the high prospect of exporting the products of industries in these sectors to China itself (especially Tibet) and vast South Asian market, etc.

It is encouring to note that bilateral trade between the two countries has increased steadily in recent years. Late year, it increased from about 72 million rupees in previous year to 100 million rupees. In investment sector also, it is increasing further. With Chinese investment, a huge Pashmina industry has already been set up in East Nepal. Last year, a Chinese company also signed on agreement with Nepalese company to develop upper Modi hydrypower project. There are enough reasons to believe that more Chinese investment will come in future.

In order to further strengthen the Sino-Nepalese relations for economic and technical cooperation and make it in depth, it is pertinent to refer briefly the reforms conducted by Chinese Government in its work of aiding foreign countries.

Since 1992, China has begun to push forward the work of joint investment actively in projects aiding to foreign countries. This is a new method for rendering assistance, in which, Chinese entrepreneurs and business with their counterparts of the recipient country to construct or operate jointly the projects assisted by China, under the supports of the policies and investment from both governments. After a few years of practice, three forms have emerged under this method of rendering assistance: First form is related with the new project to be assisted by China. According to the regulation, the recipient government shall transfer the loan provided by the Chinese government into the accounts of its new project as project capital, and the Chinese enterprise shall also make some investment in it, then the project has to be operated jointly by enterprises from both sides. The sec9ond form is related with the already completed productive projects assisted by China. These are going to be turned into joint ventures in terms of investment or operated cooperatively. The third form is related with projects directly established and operated by entrepreneurs from both countries. In this case, an agreement of principles should be reached beforehand between the Chinese Government (or any department concerned) and the government of recipient country, both shall give support financially or in policy. There are a number of advantages in conducting such a kind of reform: (1) By utilizing both governmental loan and fund raised by enterprise itself, the sources of capital as well as the scale of the project could be broadened; (2) By closely combined the beneficial result of the project with the profit of the enterprise, the result of the project could be consolidated; (3) It is favorable for the recipient country to increase its income and employment, and enterprises from both countries could also benefit.

Besides, in order to raise the economic as well as social results of aidprovided to foreign countries, the government of China has also conducted some reform in the pattern of providing aid. Since 1994, China has discussed successively with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar, etc. and changed the conventional pattern of providing funds of aid to foreign countries only through financial allocation. Instead, the governmental loan o favorable terms will be provided to recipient country with deducted interest. The governmental loan on favorable terms is also of the nature of aid, and is provided by the Bank of China. The interest rate of it is generally very low. The balance between the interest rate of it and that of the Bank will be made up by the government with the funds of aid to foreign countries. This kind of governmental loan on favorable terms is mainly used to assist those productive projects of developing countries, which are conductive to economic result for them, or to assist the infrastructural projects of the recipient country that could guarantee to repay the loan. The advantage of this pattern of providing funds of aid lies in that; the scale of aid to foreign countries could be expanded by combining the financial allocation of aid with the fund of the banks that the recipient countries would actually benefit more. In doing so, the bank shall be the executive body of the loan, thus, it will certainly be serious to assess the feasiblity of the projects concerned, select those projects which are conducive to economic result, so as to assure that the principal of the loan could be recalled, and that the economic efficiency of the aid to foreign countries could be raised.

In developing Sino-Nepalese relations of economic cooperation, if we can adhere to this new pattern of aiding which has been testified by the practice in past years, and combined it with non-governmental cooperation, push them on forcefully, supplement and complement each other and develop in an all-around way, Sino-Nepalese economic cooperation and trade will be definitely entering into a new stage of development in an unprecedented scale. The efficient cooperation in the economic area and trade will definitely make the everlasting friendly and good-neighborly relations and partnership between China and Nepal, to radiate beautiful rays in the new situation in the coming 21 century.