|
 Chinese
foreign minister meets isolated Nepal king
By Gopal Sharma
 KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing held talks with Nepal's King Gyanendra on
Thursday to boost ties with the Himalayan kingdom
isolated since the monarch seized full power on Feb.
1.
A palace official said Li, the first senior foreign
official to visit Kathmandu since the monarch took
power and drew global flak, met Gyanendra at the
sprawling Narayanhity royal palace, hours after his
arrival on a two-day official visit.
He did not give details of the issues they discussed.
But earlier, a foreign ministry official said the two
sides would discuss "bilateral relations including
measures to boost economic cooperation".
Li's visit is seen as a signal China, a key aid donor
to impoverished Nepal, will maintain friendly
relations with its Himalayan neighbour and that it
views the king's move as an "internal affair".
"I hope my visit will further enhance and promote
mutual friendship between China and Nepal," Li told
reporters on arrival at Kathmandu airport.
Analysts, however, said that by turning down Nepal's
request for a visit by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao,
China had also shown it did not want to antagonise
India, which has condemned the king's actions and
urged democracy be restored.
"That could be the reason why Premier Wen decided not
to include Nepal in his South Asian itinerary and send
the foreign minister," said Kunda Dixit, editor of the
Nepali Times weekly.
Wen will start his South Asia tour next week, and will
be aiming to cement an improvement in Sino-Indian ties
when he visits New Delhi.
SUSPENSION OF ARMS
Dixit said Nepal's royal government was reaching out
to China and Pakistan to show that it was not isolated,
particularly after India and Britain suspended crucial
arms supplies Kathmandu needs to fight Maoist
insurgents.
Besides Gyanendra, Li will meet senior Nepalese
officials before leaving for the Maldives on Friday.
He is also expected to invite Gyanendra to visit
China, officials said.
Gyanendra justified his decision to assume power
saying the move was necessary to crush a nine-year
Maoist revolt in which more than 11,000 people have
been killed.
The Maoists -- fighting to replace Nepal's
constitutional monarchy with communist rule -- say
they are inspired by the ideas of Chinese
revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, but Beijing has
disowned them.
Witnesses said riot police arrested at least 18
political activists in a Kathmandu suburb on Thursday
for defying a ban on anti-king rallies.
Political parties have vowed to launch a nationwide
protest against the monarch on April 8, the
anniversary of the establishment of multi-party
democracy in 1990.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's junior economic affairs
minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, offered Nepal $5 million
in development loans, and said Islamabad would
consider supplying arms to Nepal if Kathmandu were to
make a formal request.
|
