KATHMANDU, July 4 - China has taken up seriously with the Nepal government the matter of "vulnerable" Tibetan refugees currently in Nepal being resettled in the United States, said Deputy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli here Monday.
Replying to questions from members of the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, DPM and Foreign Minister Oli said these concerns were raised with him by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in Geneva recently.
Oli told the committee that China has accused Nepal of issuing refugee identification cards to "illegal migrants". "The Chinese Government has taken the matter seriously," he said, adding, "This is a very serious issue in Nepal-China relations."
The Kathmandu Post had reported in January on the US preparing to relocate some 5,000 "vulnerable" Tibetan refugees from Nepal to the US through a "processing operation" in Kathmandu and resettle them there by mid-2007.
China is sending its Vice-Foreign Minister, Wu Daewi, to Nepal for a three-day visit on July 27 to officially lodge its complaint with the Nepal government. "This is the major agenda of the Vice-Foreign Minister," Oli said.
He, however, said the government has been issuing refugee identification cards to both Bhutanese and Tibetan refugees only on "humanitarian grounds" and to "maintain uniformity in Nepal's policy on refugees" so that they can travel outside Nepal for medical treatment, education and reunion with family members.
"It is not for unleashing an anti-China movement? it is not given for political purposes," DPM Oli said. "We officially uphold the One-China policy. We don't let any anti-China activity to take place in Nepal and I can say for sure that such activities haven't taken place."
He also informed the House committee that the government hasn't allowed the opening of the office of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, which was closed by Nepal in early 2005.
