Nepal is located at the southern foot of the Himalayas and is a friendly neighbor of China. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, stands between China and Nepal, and has witnessed the history of friendly exchanges between the peoples of China and Nepal over thousands of years. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 65 years ago, the two countries have always respected, trusted and supported each other, and the friendship between the two peoples has been continuously consolidated and improved. In 1960, when Chairman Mao Zedong met with the then Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Nepal, Koirala, he fully affirmed the strong national sentiments of the two peoples to Mount Everest, and amicably proposed to call it the "China-Nepal Friendship Peak". A good story is left in the history of relationships. Based on the principles of fairness and reasonableness, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation, China and Nepal signed the "Boundary Treaty between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal" in October 1961 through friendly consultations, delimiting the border between the two countries. This treaty identified Mount Everest as the boundary peak between the two countries and became an eternal symbol of China-Nepal friendship.
In October 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to Nepal. The Nepalese people sang and danced to welcome President Xi Jinping’s visit with unprecedented grand occasions. During the visit, President Xi Jinping and Nepal’s leaders reached a broad consensus on further developing bilateral relations and advancing mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. They agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership oriented towards development and prosperity for generations and friendship, and China-Nepal relations entered a brand new one. era. Witnessed by the leaders of the two countries, China and Nigeria signed 30 cooperation agreements. One of the important results is that the two governments agreed to jointly announce the Mount Everest elevation and conduct scientific research cooperation.
In order to implement the consensus of the leaders, the Chinese and Nigerian diplomatic, surveying and mapping departments made unremitting efforts and concerted efforts to overcome the unfavorable factors such as the epidemic, and the mountaineering teams of the two countries overcome the huge difficulties of plateau hypoxia and climbed Mount Everest from the north and south slopes. This is the first time that Nepal has completed the autonomous elevation measurement of Mount Everest, and it is also the first time that China has used domestic Beidou high-precision positioning equipment and aerial gravimeters to measure the elevation of Mount Everest. Chinese personnel also created the longest stay of Chinese on the summit of Mount Everest. Record. The technical teams of China and Nepal held multiple rounds of technical talks by video, and jointly processed the data, and finally determined the new height authority data of Mount Everest based on the global elevation benchmark.
President Xi Jinping and President Bhandari exchanged letters to jointly announce the elevation of Mount Everest. President Xi Jinping pointed out, "Today, I and you jointly announced that the latest elevation of Mount Everest has the significance of the times and fully reflects the high level of sustained development of China-Nepal relations."
On December 8th, my colleagues from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal and I were fortunate to participate in the Mount Everest elevation announcement ceremony via video. When the latest elevation of "8848.86" meters was displayed on the big screen, I was very excited and excited. This is the latest height of the highest peak in the world, and it also symbolizes a new historical height in Sino-Nepal relations.
In the 65 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Nigeria, it is precisely under the careful guidance and care of the leaders of the two countries that generations of people who have been committed to the friendship between China and Nepal have been fearless, defying difficulties and obstacles, and constantly climbing the peak. The prosperity and development of Nepalese relations. This year is the first year for the implementation of the results of Chairman Jinping’s visit to Nepal. Through the joint efforts of both parties, the China-Nepal cross-border Internet fiber optic cable has been steadily opened, the cross-border highway upgrade and transformation have been actively promoted, the cross-border railway feasibility study has officially started, the land ports have generally remained open, and the trans-Himalayan three-dimensional interconnection network is gradually changing from vision to reality. In the face of the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, China and Nepal have watched and helped each other, joined hands in fighting the epidemic, and practiced the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind with practical actions, further sublimating the traditional rock-solid friendship. After the two governments jointly announce the elevation of Mount Everest, they will continue to promote the ecological environment protection and scientific research cooperation of Mount Everest, protect the precious wealth and homeland of the two peoples, and make Mount Everest the peak of friendship between China and Nepal. The peak of cooperation, development, and prosperity.
Standing on a new height of China-Nepal friendship, we will work with Nepal to advance China-Nepal relations to a higher level, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields under the framework of the “Belt and Road” framework, and jointly build a closer community of shared destiny between China and Nepal. May the Sino-Nepal friendship tower into the clouds and last forever like the holy Mount Everest!
(The author is the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal)
