Following a recent trip to India, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal is set to visit Beijing. This marks Nepal’s first high-level outreach to China since last year’s GenZ protests that overthrew the KP Sharma Oli-led government.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal will pay an official visit to China from June 14 to 17 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
During the visit, Khanal will hold bilateral talks with Wang Yi in Beijing to discuss ways to further strengthen Nepal-China relations and enhance cooperation in areas of mutual interest. He is also scheduled to meet senior Chinese leaders, says Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In Beijing, Khanal will outline the new administration's foreign policy priorities. He plans to place a heavy emphasis on economic diplomacy. While this focus is not entirely new, Khanal is prioritizing it much more aggressively.
However, Beijing remains deeply anxious about its security and strategic interests in Nepal. The political upheaval of the past year has left Chinese officials worried that their stability in the region could be jeopardized.
Political and administrative heads in Kathmandu have repeatedly promised that no anti-Chinese activities will be allowed on Nepali soil. Despite this, Beijing remains unconvinced. Chinese foreign policy watchers fear that some forces might exploit the political transition to harm China’s interests.
The current government explicitly represents and takes ownership of the GenZ movement. However, this youth-led uprising delivered a profound shock to Beijing, triggering a sharp escalation of Chinese anxieties over its security interests in Nepal.
Consequently, Beijing will demand a fresh, explicit commitment to the One-China principle, says a China watcher. This requirement creates a delicate diplomatic tightrope for Khanal. During his tenure as the international department head of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), he openly opposed the strict One-China principle over the more flexible One-China policy.
China is also using this visit to read the new government's broader geopolitical alignment. Beijing harbors doubts about securing deeper cooperation with the current dispensation in Kathmandu. In fact, Chinese leadership is mentally prepared for a potential cooling of bilateral ties. For now, they prefer to maintain a functional, working-level relationship rather than planning future high-level exchanges.
The implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be a critical focal point for both nations. Under the previous tenure of KP Sharma Oli, the two countries signed a framework identifying ten specific BRI projects. Kathmandu is now expected to reiterate its stance against taking loans to execute these projects.
The new government may ultimately treat the agreement as inherited political baggage. Paradoxically, this position contradicts the RSP's own election manifesto, which advocates for taking concessional Chinese loans to build world-class infrastructure.
To navigate these friction points, the Chinese Ambassador in Kathmandu has taken a highly proactive approach with the new cabinet. In recent meetings with government ministers, the Ambassador proposed specific areas for mutual cooperation.
The embassy is also pushing initiatives like the Youth Pioneer Program to build civic networks among the Nepali youth. Additionally, the Ambassador has strongly urged the swift implementation of the bilateral agreements signed during President Xi Jinping’s 2019 visit to Nepal. Through these proposals, Beijing is attempting to bind the new government to past commitments while tightly monitoring its security assurances
