After Gen Z protests, Nepali commission accuses a Chinese company of corruption
Nepal's anti-corruption commission has indicted 55 former politicians and officials and the state-owned China CAMC Engineering of inflating the costs of Pokhara International Airport, built with a Chinese loan as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, but currently without regular international flights. The investigation is testing the new caretaker government, which does not want to jeopardise ties with Beijing.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – The wave of youth protests that shook Nepal in recent months has not yet subsided. Meanwhile, the country’s anti-corruption commission has targeted several former politicians involved in the construction of the new Pokhara International Airport, built with a Chinese loan and currently virtually without international flights.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) recently filed charges against 55 people and a Chinese state-owned company, China CAMC Engineering, for inflating the project's costs.
The accused include five former ministers, ten former cabinet secretaries, and other senior officials from all of the country's major political parties.
According to the CIAA, the cost of the project – estimated at between US$ 216 million and US$ 250 million, was inflated by more than US$ 70 million through a revised estimate deemed unlawful. For this reason, it is seeking the recovery of 8.36 billion Nepalese rupees (US$ 63 million).
The CIAA accused China CAMC Engineering President Wang Bo and his regional manager Liu Shengcheng of increasing the estimated cost without reasonable cause and with “an unnatural price” set even “before the entering into further procurement-related procedures process” in violation of applicable rules.
Pokhara International Airport, immediately labelled a national pride project, was inaugurated in January 2023 to serve the city of Pokhara, the country’s tourist hub, located at the foot of the Himalayas, one of the most visited places in the country.
Nearly three years later, however, there are still no regular international flights and minimal revenues that prevent debt repayments.
The loan granted by the Export-Import Bank of China is expected to be repaid with the proceeds from the airport, which is one of the many projects included in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the mega-infrastructure plan launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013.
Nepali authorities have, however, always tried to avoid including the project in the BRI precisely to avoid fuelling domestic controversy over the risk of financial dependence on Beijing.
The latest development follows protests in September against corruption, nepotism, and the impunity of traditional political parties.
The demonstrations led to the fall of the government of then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, considered very close to Beijing, and brought to power a caretaker government led by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki, who immediately promised to pursue a zero-tolerance policy against corruption.
For several observers, this affair is an attempt to regain the trust of the population, tired of corruption scandals, but also a test of relations with Beijing.
The case will now be examined by a special court, which is expected to last several months and could have significant repercussions on bilateral relations with Beijing.
China is Nepal's second-largest trading partner after India, and the previous government had attempted to balance the influence of its two Asian neighbours, for example by requesting the conversion of the Pokhara loan into a non-repayable grant, a request Beijing rejected.
For its part, the current technocratic government will have to balance the demands for transparency from Nepal’s Gen Z, who led the protests, with the need to avoid compromising ties with Beijing.
.png)
