AMN/ WEB DESK
Nepalese Parliament approved a $500 million U.S. government aid program Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) overcoming domestic political divisions and objections from China. China which is in tussle with US for influence in the Himalayan nation said in a sharp reaction on Monday that Washington should not undermine the sovereignty of other countries through “coercive diplomacy”.
In a move leaving Beijing bewildered, Nepal’s Parliament on Sunday ratified the contentious US-funded USD 500 million MCC Nepal compact along with an ‘Interpretive Declaration’ a day ahead of the February 28 deadline set by Washington, ending months of debates, protests and polarisation in Nepal. Experts say, China was edgy about the MCC which was signed between Nepal and the U.S. government in September 2017 as over the years it wielded influence among the influential Marxist parties in Nepal and pushed its BRI (Belt and Road Initiative). Currently, the Nepali Congress is leading the ruling Coalition in Kathmandu which includes major Left parties – CPN-Maoist Centre CPN-Unified Socialist.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing, “China has noted the decision and the ‘interpretive declaration’ by the Nepalese Parliament.” Senior leader of the ruling Nepali Congress Ram Chandra Poudel has said that the declaration includes the statements that the MCC is not part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, Nepal’s constitution will be above any provisions of the MCC and the country will perceive it purely as economic assistance.
In the run up to the deadline of February 28, China repeatedly accused US of “coercive diplomacy” in Nepal. Additionally, Chinese officials lobbied hard to dissuade Nepalese politicians from accepting the American aid under MCC Nepal compact, which is perhaps the biggest US grant for Nepal in recent years. The MCC is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the US Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. Nepal’s political parties were sharply divided on whether to accept the US grant assistance under the MCC agreement. On February 23, while Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying attacked the MCC in Beijing; Song Tao, Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, had a virtual meeting with former pro-Beijing Nepalese Prime K P Sharma Oli, as reported in prominent Nepalese media.
China’s political influence as well as investments have grown in Nepal significantly, especially under the previous tenures of Oli, however, Beijing was mostly lying low in recent months after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba came to power last year. Chinese desperately tried to save a split in the electoral alliance among communist parties in Nepal in 2020. Even though China failed in its attempts, it made waves in international media. Experts say, China has clearly attempted to push its views and prescription to influence the democratic parliamentary system which is clearly visible in Nepal. China claims it doesn’t interfere in internal affairs of other countries.