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The Nepal government has reported that China has violated their border agreement and is illegally occupying Nepali land. In a report released May 31 by Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture, data reveals China has crossed over into Nepal territory and claimed 36 hectares as its own.
The Ministry states that four of its districts adjacent to the Nepal-Tibet boundary are shown to be occupied by China, including Humla, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Sankhuwasabha. In Sankhuwasabha, a project to improve road connectivity throughout Tibet is the cause for encroachment. Diversion of river direction by China is said to have caused more of its occupation. As first reported by Asian News International, “China changed the direction of the river which now has been diverted to the Nepali side. This resulted in the encroachment of land, the Ministry has concluded.”
With land now falling under Chinese control, Nepal could lose more land if expansion continues without regulation. “Nepal would lose a hundred acres of land to the Tibetan side,” stated the Ministry.
The Ministry report comes in response to findings from a month-long survey in 2015 looking at the flow of the river near the two countries’ borders. The Nepal government has since initiated plans for the inspection of more districts bordering Tibet, including Taplejung, Solukhmbu, Dolakha, Gorkha, Manang, Mustang, Dolpa, Mugu, Humla and Darchula, in search of more violations to their boundary delimitation.
These border issues come less than a year after the two countries finalised protocol of a transit treaty, enabling Nepal to use trading ports in China and is in part why China is expanding roads in Tibet. Nepal and China have disagreed about boundary lines before; the two countries resolved these issues on October 5, 1961 through the Nepal-China Joint Boundary Commission.
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