Though the visit has not been formally announced by either side, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had told media last month that his Chinese counterpart was visiting Nepal from December 20, something contrary to the Chinese tradition of making public such visits just a couple of days beforehand. And preparations by both countries were underway accordingly. [break]
"Though he was supposed to visit Nepal this month, the date had not been finalized. Now the visit has been delayed and we have been told that he is required to be at home next week to discuss economic issues," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayankaji Shrestha, adding, the visit will be rescheduled through diplomatic channels.
Meanwhile, our Special Correspondent in Hong Kong Purna Basnet, quoting sources in Beijing, reported that the Chinese premier is likely to come to Nepal in the first week of January.
"The visit has not been cancelled; it has only been postponed," a highly-placed Chinese source in Beijing told Republica on Tuesday, "The possibility of Wen Jiabao visiting Nepal in December is slim, he is likely to visit in the first week of January."
Shrestha said that discussions through diplomatic channels are underway to fix the next date for the visit and added that ongoing preparations for the vist will continue.
Chinese ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan had conveyed a message of "regrets" to Shrestha on Tuesday and thanked Nepal for the preparations made to date for the first visit of that level that was going to occur in 10 years.
Sources said that the Chinese premier might not have postponed his visit just because he is required to be at home to discuss economic issues facing China. On the basis of their talks with Chinese officials in recent days, they said the Chinese leader might have called off the visit due to security concerns.
An advanced team from China had recently visited Kathmandu to make an assessment of the security situation and held meetings with government officials. During such meetings, Chinese officials had expressed doubts about Nepal´s capacity to provide security to their premier during the visit.
In addition, the team had sought Nepal´s assurance that not a single protest by Tibetans would occur during the visit. Out of their security concerns, the Chinese side had pressed the Nepali side to give only limited access to Nepali media covering the Wen visit.
But Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha ruled out the possibility that the Chinese premier might have postponed the visit due to security concerns.
"They were very much assured about security. They were happy with our preparations," said Shrestha when asked whether the visit was postponed out of security concerns.
Asked whether likely political instability caused China to postpone the visit, the deputy prime minister rejected such grounds outright.
Shrestha said the Chinese premier was supposed to come to Nepal after a visit to Myanmar. The Chinese ambassador had informed Shrestha Wednesday that Wen´s visit to Myanmar has also been postponed. But Reuters, a UK-based news agency, reported on Tuesday that the Chinese premier is visiting Myanmar for a regional summit next week.
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