Nepal Investigating University After CCP Leader Xi Jinping’s Books Are Burned
Udumbara
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Nepalese authorities have launched a formal investigation into the burning of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s books at a campus in Nepal’s western region of Morang, an act that angered the communist regime in Beijing.
The Ministry of Home Affairs announced on March 17 that it had instructed local security agencies and the district administration office in Morang to probe the incident, citing concerns about potential implications for Nepal-China relations, according to the Rising Nepal, an English-language newspaper owned by the Nepalese government.
The incident took place on March 15 at Nepal’s Manmohan Technical University, where faculty members linked the burning to the lack of a storage room, according to a statement from Live News Raftaar, a local news website that first reported it.
The news portal said its reporter witnessed thousands of copies of Xi’s books being tossed into the fire. The related video—which went viral on social media after being posted on its Facebook page—had been taken down at the request of local authorities, according to the statement.
The university described it as an accident during routine maintenance, with termite-affected books being cleared in order to make better use of the space. Vice Chancellor Subash Shree Pokhrel told Reuters that several copies of Xi’s books were “inadvertently” destroyed during the cleanup, and that they had “no intention” of destroying books or harming the relationship with Beijing.
That explanation appears to have failed to satisfy the Chinese regime. Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later received a diplomatic note from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, which demanded swift action against those responsible. In response, Nepal’s Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal told the local newspaper, the Kathmandu Post, “We have instructed local officials in Morang to investigate the matter and take action against those involved.”
The books at the center of the controversy, titled “Governance of China,” compile the speeches, directives, and pronouncements that Xi has delivered since rising to power in late 2012.
The Chinese Embassy donated these books to the university via the Pushpalal Memorial Foundation during Bharat Mohan Adhikari’s term as deputy prime minister, according to Nepal News. Adhikari was a prominent figure in Nepal’s Communist Party. The university still holds nearly 13,000 copies of Xi’s books, it added.
The Manmohan Technical University was established by the Nepali provincial government of Koshi in 2017, according to its official website. Its predecessor was Manmohan Memorial Polytechnic, where Adhikari had served as the college’s president until 2019, according to its website.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Manmohan Technical University for comments.
However, after coming into operation in 2023, the airport grappled with corruption scandals and challenges such as a lack of international flights due to India’s refusal to allow planes to use its airspace.
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