A (Huge) Slice of China in the Middle of Nepal
Having the traditional Nepali fare of daal bhat (light curry with rice) in a local restaurant in Kathmandu, the author was lucky to share a table with a couple of Nepali businessman in the widespread pashmina (fine cashmere textiles) industry. Suddenly, one of the guys pick up his phone, and to the author's surprise, starts going off in a fluent conversation in Mandarin. Inquired afterwards, he divulged that he is based in Shenzhen, just home for the long seven-day golden week China is celebrating for the Oct 1 holiday (for Founding of the People's Republic in 1949).
The guy spoke on and on about the enormous impact China has had not only on his personal life (he spoke of Shenzhen's friendliness to residing foreigners and his long-term Chinese girlfriend), but also for the Nepali pashmina industry and his native country as a whole. "They (the Chinese) bring good business," he remarks with a matter-of-fact straight face, "and I enjoy the results." Indeed, being in the center of Thamel, Kathmandu's backpacker district, one cannot simply walk down the streets without bumping into Chinese people or hear Mandarin being spoken.
Yes, while it is true that the author is currently here in a rather special period that China is going through a long vacation, but what is quite surprising is how many Chinese are choosing Nepal, a rather underrated (not to mention overlapping in the whole exotic Buddhist, high-mountain atmosphere with Tibet, a place much cheaper and easier to go to) destination, especially considering how the Chinese tend to go to more "high-end" locales with dubious purposes...Indeed, the Chinese should not have caught on to the Western culture of adventure backpacking just yet.
The massive presence of Chinese traffic is changing the Kathmandu cityscape in a visual way. A ubiquitous presence of hotels,shops, and restaurants catering primarily to Chinese clientele is now part of everyday life, and a new group of people who make a living from interacting with Chinese (including the businessman who the author interacted with) has came into being. In absence of traditional Chinese-learning facilities, private firms teaching Chinese and reaching out for Chinese business opportunities have started to dot the landscape.
With the growth of Chinese traffic in Nepal, what is conspicuously absent is an equally powerful presence of India, considering India's traditionally closer relationship with Nepal (even today, one can freely cross the border between the two countries). Sure, India does have the cultural influence in Nepal with food and TV programs, but given the state of things, it is questionable how the advantage can be maintained in the coming decades. And given the geographical proximity, the lack of Indian citizens in Nepal to help boost Indian influence is rather perplexing.
Comparing the two, it is clear that the Nepali economic environment, at the very least, is shifting toward China at the expense of India. And given the fact that Nepal continues to be "India's backyard" from a political/military point of view, this dichotomy is bound to be a new point of contention in the almost endless list of contentions and misunderstandings China and India already go through. India, simply stated will not and should not ignore China's growing influence in Nepal, as it is bound to become a matter of national security.
Whatever method India will use to limit China's further infiltration in this geographical backyard, friction between the two giants are unavoidable. Nepal, itself in a state of political flux given that the communist insurgency has only ended recently (but with the conflict flaring up again completely plausible), is bound to suffer greatly as it will predictably be politically destabilized in the process. The economic recovery from years of low-level civil war, as well as the previously mentioned Chinese influx, is very much at stake.
This blog has spent great deal of length in the past months discussing the backlash against China in places like Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong as a result of political and economic dominance China has asserted around the Western Pacific. But it should not be lost to the readers that the Chinese external push is not limited to its immediate surroundings where direct and scaled commercial volumes exist. In fact, it is places like Nepal where China has not had influence before but are quickly gaining it that the greatest amount of tension with existing interest groups will be felt.
The guy spoke on and on about the enormous impact China has had not only on his personal life (he spoke of Shenzhen's friendliness to residing foreigners and his long-term Chinese girlfriend), but also for the Nepali pashmina industry and his native country as a whole. "They (the Chinese) bring good business," he remarks with a matter-of-fact straight face, "and I enjoy the results." Indeed, being in the center of Thamel, Kathmandu's backpacker district, one cannot simply walk down the streets without bumping into Chinese people or hear Mandarin being spoken.
Yes, while it is true that the author is currently here in a rather special period that China is going through a long vacation, but what is quite surprising is how many Chinese are choosing Nepal, a rather underrated (not to mention overlapping in the whole exotic Buddhist, high-mountain atmosphere with Tibet, a place much cheaper and easier to go to) destination, especially considering how the Chinese tend to go to more "high-end" locales with dubious purposes...Indeed, the Chinese should not have caught on to the Western culture of adventure backpacking just yet.
The massive presence of Chinese traffic is changing the Kathmandu cityscape in a visual way. A ubiquitous presence of hotels,shops, and restaurants catering primarily to Chinese clientele is now part of everyday life, and a new group of people who make a living from interacting with Chinese (including the businessman who the author interacted with) has came into being. In absence of traditional Chinese-learning facilities, private firms teaching Chinese and reaching out for Chinese business opportunities have started to dot the landscape.
With the growth of Chinese traffic in Nepal, what is conspicuously absent is an equally powerful presence of India, considering India's traditionally closer relationship with Nepal (even today, one can freely cross the border between the two countries). Sure, India does have the cultural influence in Nepal with food and TV programs, but given the state of things, it is questionable how the advantage can be maintained in the coming decades. And given the geographical proximity, the lack of Indian citizens in Nepal to help boost Indian influence is rather perplexing.
Comparing the two, it is clear that the Nepali economic environment, at the very least, is shifting toward China at the expense of India. And given the fact that Nepal continues to be "India's backyard" from a political/military point of view, this dichotomy is bound to be a new point of contention in the almost endless list of contentions and misunderstandings China and India already go through. India, simply stated will not and should not ignore China's growing influence in Nepal, as it is bound to become a matter of national security.
Whatever method India will use to limit China's further infiltration in this geographical backyard, friction between the two giants are unavoidable. Nepal, itself in a state of political flux given that the communist insurgency has only ended recently (but with the conflict flaring up again completely plausible), is bound to suffer greatly as it will predictably be politically destabilized in the process. The economic recovery from years of low-level civil war, as well as the previously mentioned Chinese influx, is very much at stake.
This blog has spent great deal of length in the past months discussing the backlash against China in places like Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong as a result of political and economic dominance China has asserted around the Western Pacific. But it should not be lost to the readers that the Chinese external push is not limited to its immediate surroundings where direct and scaled commercial volumes exist. In fact, it is places like Nepal where China has not had influence before but are quickly gaining it that the greatest amount of tension with existing interest groups will be felt.
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