China ‘encroaching across border into Nepal’, according to leaked government report

Chinese embassy in Kathmandu denies encroachment claims

File: Nepalese police detain people during a peace march to enter Tibet along the Nepal-Tibet border (AFP via Getty Images)

China has been accused by Nepal of encroaching into its borders in a leaked report, joining its neighbours India and Bhutan in voicing concerns about the Asian giant’s territorial ambitions.

This would mark the first time Nepal has accused the country of encroachment, despite several other reports of Chinese interference — though the government report has not been formally released, and officials are yet to respond to its leaking.

The report was commissioned by the government last September after media reports that China had constructed 11 houses in Humla district, along the western Nepal border. The accusations had forced Nepal’s prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to announce the formation of a committee to study the allegations on 1 September.

It is not known why the committee’s report has yet to be released, but its findings were reported by the BBC on Tuesday morning. The Chinese embassy in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu has denied the encroachment claims.

It accuses Beijing of carrying out surveillance activities in the Lalungjong border area, which is on Nepal’s side of its border with China.

China has also reportedly restricted religious and grazing activities of Nepalese locals, according to the report. Lalungjong is an area that has religious significance for both Hindus and Buddhists due to its proximity to Mount Kailash.

It also said China had built a fence around a border pillar and attempted to construct a canal and a road on the Nepalese side of the border.

Some buildings that were thought to have been constructed on the Nepalese side of the border, however, were found to be built on the Chinese side, according to the taskforce, comprised of representatives from the police and government.

The report appears to verify accusations made by opposition political leaders for the past two years of China’s alleged encroachment.

The issue has sparked regular protests among people against the government in Kathmandu.

Nepal, which has been pursuing closer relations with Beijing, has tried to play down any suggestion of a border dispute.

The Chinese embassy had issued a statement in January about the encroachment issue.

“There is no dispute at all. It is hoped that the Nepali people [will] not be misled with false individual reports,” it said.

China and Nepal share a 1,439km-long border that stretches through large remote and inaccessible parts of both countries. The frontier between the two neighbours is based on the 1961 Border Treaty and various agreements thereafter.

The border is demarcated by 100 main and subsidiary pillars, often separated by long distances.

The Independent has reached out to Nepal’s government for a response.