Dharamsala, July 20 – China has blocked a car rally from Lumbini, the Buddha’s birthplace, to Shanghai Trade Expo for fear that the rally routed through Tibet may trigger fresh anti China protests in Tibet.
Implementing Experts’ Group (IEG), a Nepali organisation specialising in trade expositions, had planned the Buddha car rally, Indo Asian News Service reported.
The IEG said the rally was to take “Peace Lamp”, lit in Lumbini, for display at the Nepal Pavilion at the Shanghai expo which began on May 1 and will conclude October 31.
The IEG said it asked for permission for the rally two months ago. China, however, refused to allow the rally to go through Tibet, for fear it could spark fresh “Free Tibet” protests in the restive Himalayan region that saw massive anti-China protests in 2008.
China has invited Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav as well as Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to the fair.
In the past, China blocked mountaineering expeditions to Mt Everest through Tibet to ensure there were no Free Tibet protests during the 2008 Olympic Games.
China and Nepal recently announced that they will work closely to boost tourism in both the countries, reported the state run Xinhua. “To start with, we’ll jointly launch day tours along the China-Nepal border,” said Wang Songping, deputy chief of Tibet’s tourism administration, at “Welcome to Nepal,” a briefing on Nepal tourism in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
Tibetans exiles staged some of the most dramatic and sustained demonstrations in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in 2008, targeting the Chinese embassy, its visa office and the United Nations after unrest against Chinese rule in Tibet faced Chinese military crackdown.
Following the “massive” anti-China unrest in Tibet in 2008, China has been sending a flurry of high-level official delegations to Nepal to ensure it effectively curbs “Free-Tibet activities” on its soil. In return China promises to increase assistance to the crisis-ridden country.
