By Nirmal P. Acharya
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi exchanged barbs at the 29th Munich Security Conference.
As usual, Secretary Blinken was acting like a world leader and issuing all kinds of warnings to China, and China was reacting in kind. However, this time the Chinese have been particularly harsh.
Wang Yi described the US attitude towards China as “hysterical”. Wang Yi, referring to 2,000 years old Chinese saying said, “A gentleman loves money and obtains it in the right way. Only the despicable seek wealth by means of plunder.” Now the US has stripped away all pretence, abandoned the means of cunning and resorted to plundering.
Just after Wang Yi finished speaking, China released a report entitled “US hegemony and Its Dangers”, which listed five hegemons exercised by the US: wanton political hegemony, militaristic military hegemony, arbitrary economic hegemony, monopolistic and repressive scientific and technological hegemony, and demagogic cultural hegemony.
The rivalry between China and the US is becoming more and more intense. Nepal had better stay out of it. But if hegemony comes over Nepal, we must also oppose it. Take, for example, the MCC, which is a joint US-Nepali project on Nepalese territory, but which the US insists is not governed by Nepal, nor audited by Nepal, and not subject to Nepalese law. The US insisted on writing these terms into the official text of the project agreement and threatened Nepal with an ultimatum to accept them. This is clearly an attempt by the US to usurp Nepal’s national sovereignty, which we must strongly oppose.
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