Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Nepal on Friday on invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka.
Wang will hold bilateral talks with Khadka leading their respective delegations during the three-day visit, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.
He will also meet President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal while in Nepal.
Wang had last visited Nepal ahead of the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2019.
The visit comes less than a month after the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact was ratified by the House. China had publicly commented against the MCC Compact ahead of the ratification.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin first said China opposes 'coercive diplomacy' referring to the February 28 deadline given by America to ratify the MCC Compact during a press conference on February 18 responding to reports in the Nepali media that US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu warned Nepali leaders that America will review bilateral ties with Nepal if the MCC Compact is not passed by February end.
Responding to media queries during another press conference five days later Spokesperson at the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying warned that Nepal will find the meat of MCC difficult to chew.
"I noticed that a US State Department spokesperson said earlier that Nepal’s failure to ratify the MCC compact will affect bilateral ties. The US Embassy in Nepal described the $500 million MCC grant as “a gift from the American people to Nepalis. I wonder, since when does a gift come with the package of an ultimatum? How can anyone accept such a gift? Is it a gift or Pandora’s box? I’m afraid it will turn out like a Nepali saying: It looks good, but you will find the meat difficult to chew," Hua said.
There were speculations in the diplomatic circle that Nepal may have alienated the northern neighbor by going ahead and ratifying the MCC Compact despite explicit opposition by China that is bracing for a long strategic competition with America.
