Nepali communist leaders under China's pressure over grant assistance of US aid

Kathmandu [Nepal], December 21 : Nepali communist leaders are under China's pressure to create trouble over ratification of a million dollars worth grant assistance by US foreign aid agency.
Nepal government is in favour of ratifying of grant Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)-Nepal Compact despite being aware of the fact that communist parties in the ruling coalition would stand against it, khabarhub reported.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an innovative and independent US foreign assistance agency that helps in curbing global poverty.
The report said this stand was evident when the leaders of the ruling coalition at the all-party meeting last week opposed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's idea of moving it forward in the Parliament.
The communist party leaders, who have been shouldering PM Deuba to lead the government, reiterated their regular stances saying some clauses of the MCC agreement will undermine Nepal's sovereignty and that it cannot be endorsed in its current status.
It should be recalled that a meeting of the MCC Board of Directors held recently in Washington said, "The Board of Directors made note of the commitment by the government of Nepal to seek to ratify the compact in the near term," reported khabarhub.
Now, PM Deuba is in a dilemma. If his government tabled the MCC in the parliament for ratification, there are chances that the coalition could break since Chitra Bahadur KC, Chairman of the Rastriya Janamorcha, has reiterated that his party will pull out of the coalition if the government moved the MCC forward.
Meanwhile, sources claim that Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" has asked PM Deuba not to take a decision on the issue before December 28 - the date when the Maoist Centre's national conference will conclude.
They also claimed that the communist parties are under pressure from China to not endorse the MCC at any cost, khabarhub reported.
On December 13, a Chinese official, Chen Chao, who is also the Deputy Minister of International Affairs under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in a video conversation with UML leader Shankar Pokhrel, had urged the latter to "reconsider" the party's position on MCC before endorsing it.
Meanwhile, Khabarhub recently published a story on the basis of a highly confidential document prepared by Nepal's security authorities stating that China is "playing a role" in souring Nepal's relations with third countries, particularly with the United States, and is currently actively propagating, lobbying and spending against the MCC.
A Nepali political leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, "China does not want MCC to be endorsed at any cost. Therefore, it is piling pressure on Nepal's left parties to stand against MCC."
Analyst Saroj Mishra meanwhile is of the view that a handful of Nepalis consider themselves "more Chinese than the Chinese themselves" when it comes to ratifying MCC, reported khabarhub.
According to him, some Nepali leaders, mainly the communists, are acting like Nepal is China's protectorate, and are worried that Nepal would go out of China's grip.
During Sunday's all-party meeting, all political parties, except for the NC, were unanimous to "suggest" PM Deuba not to take MCC forward without a greater consensus.