The US Embassy has taken exception to deportation of a US citizen on request by the Chinese government and sought clarification from the Nepal government.
US citizen Penpa Tsering was taken under control by the immigration office at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Saturday mistakenly assuming him to be the namesake who is a follower of the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama.
China had requested the Nepali government to ban entry of Penpa Tsering who has already served as speaker of the Tibetan parliament in exile. The Immigration Department in line with the government's one China policy had accordingly blacklisted Penpa Tsering.
The immigration officials took the US citizen under control as they shared the same name and were also around the same age and deported him.
The US Embassy has taken exception to the deportation of its citizen and asked whether US citizen should get a clearance from other governments to enter Nepal. "We are seeking clarification from the Nepal government about the facts of this specific instance and, more generally, about whether U.S. citizens seeking to enter Nepal will be subject to clearance from other foreign governments," the embassy has asked issuing a statement on Thursday. “The U.S. Embassy is troubled that the Nepal government deported a U.S. citizen on the basis of a request from a foreign government," the statement states.
US Embassy Spokesperson Andie De Arment told Setopati that the embassy is collecting additional facts regarding the incident from the Nepal government.
