Nepali opposition claims Beijing seized tens of hectares of Nepali territory
Chinese troops allegedly built structures in an area bordering Tibet. The Nepali and Chinese governments deny this. India accuses China of seizing 300 square kilometres of Himalayan territory during the summer hitherto under its control.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – China has seized a portion of Nepali territory along their border, Nepali opposition politicians
Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, a provincial lawmaker for the opposition Nepali Congress party, said that Chinese troops crossed the border and built nine concrete structures about a kilometre inside Nepal, at Limi, Humla district, British newspaper Daily Telegraph reported.
Shai notes that locals built a road 10 years ago without meeting Chinese objections. Now Beijing claims the small and rugged valley as its own. He and another opposition politician claim that Beijing began annexing tens of hectares of Nepali land in May.
A spokesman for the Nepal’s Foreign Ministry denied the allegation, noting that China has not "violated" Nepal’s territory nor erected buildings inside Nepal. His Chinese counterpart also rejected the accusation as "completely unfounded rumours".
Nepal has no territorial disputes with China, but it does with India, which has always had a strong influence on Nepali politics. However, Nepal’s current Communist-led government has cooled relations with Delhi and favours ties with its northern neighbour.
China is increasingly active in the Himalayan region. Military skirmishes with Indian forces continued throughout the summer, especially along the provisional border (Line of Actual Control) that divides Indian Ladakh from Tibet.
According to the India government, Beijing has seized about 300 square kilometres of territory previously under Indian control.
China and India share a border of 3,488 km in the Himalayas, and fought a brief but bloody war in 1962.
India claims large sectors of Aksai Chin (which the Chinese obtained from Pakistan); Beijing claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Over the past 45 years, the two countries have faced off several times with no casualties, until last June.
.png)
08/09/2020 17:11
