21 July,
2015 South China Morning Post Ingrid
Piper in Kathmandu
China is working to rebuild Nepal after
April's devastating earthquake - but politics and aid are strongly
intertwined
Barely 24 hours
after the April 25 earthquake devastated Nepal, the China
Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) rescue team slipped
quietly across the border into Nepal.
It
was the first time this Beijing-based not-for-profit aid
organisation, which claims to be funded by Chinese business and
private donations, had worked in Nepal - although it's been
involved in humanitarian aid in many of the world's disaster zones,
including Haiti, Chile, Indonesia, Africa and Myanmar.
One
month later, in his Tamil hotel room in downtown Kathmandu, Wang
Peng, CFPA Director of the Disaster Relief Programme looks
exhausted.
Lighting a
cigarette, he explains his team initially began search and rescue
operations along the China - Nepal highway, one of the areas
hardest hit by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its hundreds of
aftershocks.
"We
located 17 bodies," he said simply.
With
the search and rescue phase complete, his team went on to provide
1,353 medical consultations, 59,331 free meals and distributed
20,000kg of rice to remote villages. They also relocated more than
2,000 displaced people from the Zhangmu border region to a new
110-tent city in Bode, Bhaktapur.
The NGO's work
was so highly regarded that Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala
officially opened CFPA's camp city on May 22. The complex has
running water, kitchens, electricity, medical services and school
tents - one of three school locations CFPA supports.
For Wang Peng, the job has only just started. Over the next 6-12
months, CFPA will train local NGOs to manage the camp with the aim
of transitioning traumatised families back to their communities
when the monsoons end and homes are rebuilt.
In
Kathmandu, another distinctive blue and white tent city - part of
the official Chinese Government aid programme - is testament to
China's support for devastated Nepal.
Both
China and India responded rapidly to the crisis that killed 8,832
people, injured more than 22,000 and displaced nearly three
million.
While other
nations were still swinging into action, the two superpowers
delivered field hospitals, air support, rescue workers, food and
medical aid.
Underlying
humanitarian aid however, is another theme - political allegiances.
Winning hearts and minds can be tricky. Although immensely grateful
for India's rescue efforts, locals didn't appreciate the intrusive
nature of the Indian media, sparking Twitter campaign
#Gohomeindianmedia.
Wedged between
India and China, landlocked Nepal is one of the poorest nations in
the world. With a population of 27 million, it has an average
minimum wage of US$78 a month and last year, 25 per cent of its GDP
of US$67 billion came from remittances with eight per cent from
tourism.
The
government estimates one third of its GDP has been wiped out by the
quake, and the World Bank forecasts the disaster will increase
poverty by three per cent - equating to one million more people
living below the breadline.
Last
year, China officially became Nepal's biggest investor, as well as
increasing aid from US$24 million to US$128 million in 2015-16.
Both India and China contribute significantly to Nepal's ongoing
development. Last August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
visited Kathmandu becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit
in 17 years.
While the visit
itself was significant, he also announced concessional loans worth
US$1 billion for infrastructure development. Just days before the
April earthquake, the Nepalese government approved the China Three
Gorges International Corporation plan to build a US$1.6 billion
hydropower project in Western Nepal.
Lumbini, the
birthplace of Buddha, lies west of Kathmandu, close to the
Nepal-Indian border. Apart from a 40 per cent drop in tourist
numbers, this quiet rural backwater was unaffected by the
earthquake.
Last
November, the Nepal Government signed contracts with the Northwest
Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group of China to build a
US$60.7 million international airport - the country's second - in
Lumbini.
The
Asian Development Bank, the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure
Development project and the Opec fund for International Development
will jointly fund the project. Stage one is scheduled for
completion in 2017.
When
completed, Gautam Buddha Airport will handle up to six million
passengers annually - a significant increase in current tourism
levels, so it's not surprising that on May 25, Nepal's Culture,
Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Kripa Sur Sherpa officially
backed a plan by Buddhist monk, His Eminence Shyalpa Tenzin
Rinpoche, to build a non-denominational peace centre, the
Mahasiddha Sanctuary for Universal Peace, on part of the world
heritage site.
Plans for the
site will be unveiled on November 1.
"I
want to create a sanctuary for every peace lover - not for
Buddhists, not for Christians, not for Hindus, not for any race,
for any colour, any creed. But for all - as a destination for inner
and for outer peace," Rinpoche said.
The
Nepalese government says it needs US$6.7 billion to rebuild the
shattered nation, but that figure could be optimistic.
Talking at a
recent Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent's Club lunch in Hong Kong,
Nepalese philanthropist Binod Chaudhary said he believed Nepal
needed US$50 billion to rebuild and advance
economically.
At
an international fundraising gathering on June 25, India's External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said her government would provide
US$1 billion towards Nepal's reconstruction. She said Operation
Maitri was her country's largest disaster assistance
operation.
"As
the oldest and closest friend, India is ready to stand with Nepal,"
she said.
China has
pledged US$500 million, Japan US$260 million, US US$130 million,
the European Union US$100 million, the Asia Development Bank US$
600 million and the World Bank $US 500 million - all falling short
of what Nepal needs.
Some
of the shortfall will be met by generosity of the international
community and through private donations.
The
Hong Kong SAR is providing US$6.45 million while private donors
like Alibaba's founder Jack Ma will be funding 1,000 new homes via
Chaudhary, Nepal's only billionaire, whose charity, the Chaudhary
Foundation, is rebuilding 100 schools and 10,000 houses.
His
Eminence Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche's and his Hong Kong based charity,
the Wencheng Gongzhu International Foundation raised HK$5 million
in Hong Kong with the help of actor Ray Lui Leung-Wai and Chinese
businesses.
Despite
international promises of assistance and private donations, the
Nepalese government and community leaders want decisions about
rebuilding to be in Nepal's hands.
Nepal's Mega
Bank chief Anil Shah said the nation is highly sensitive about
accepting aid.
"What you must
realise about the Nepali people is we are a nation that has never
been colonised - it is very hard for us to put our hand out and say
we will just sit back and take your assistance.
"Look at Haiti -
millions of dollars of rice has gone into Haiti and I still see
them standing in line for rice - I don't want my brothers and
sisters doing that five years down the line."
"We
want to say help us by coming with your families and enjoying
Nepal. Spend your euros and dollars so we can feel we are doing
something to earn it. We know we can't do it alone," Shah
said.