NFA (KATHMANDU, 27 December 2020) – Vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Guo Yezhou, arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day visit on Sunday.
He has led a four-member high-powered delegation. Senior NCP leaders said that the delegation will hold high-level talks during its stay in Kathmandu.
A diplomatic source said that the visit is aimed at “taking stock of Nepal’s evolving political situation after the dissolution of the House of Representatives and subsequent split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) amid already-deepened intraparty rift.
The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are tight-lipped about the visit.
Earlier this week, Hou Yanqi, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, had communicated about the visit of Vice Minister Guo to Kathmandu during her meetings with senior NCP leaders of both factions. Vice Minister Guo is scheduled to hold meetings with the leaders of both factions of the ruling NCP.
Beijing appears particularly concerned over the move of Prime Minister KP Oli to dissolve the House of Representatives (HoR) and the evolving political situation that saw a vertical split in the NCP. Shortly after the dissolution of the HoR, Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi expedited her meetings with top political leadership in Nepal.
Ambassador Hou has already held meetings with President Bidya Devi Bhandari, senior leaders of the NCP Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, former speaker of the HoR Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Barsha Man Pun, among others, within the ruling NCP. Sources said Hou has inquired with the leaders if there was still a possibility to keep the unity of the ruling NCP intact.