China expediting efforts to re-open its border with Nepal

BEIJING: China on Monday said it is expediting efforts to re-open its borders with Nepal, closed since the massive earthquake in the Himalayan nation, to rush supplies following the squeezed movement of goods and fuel through the Indian border due to protests over the new Constitution.

"China is stepping (up) efforts to reopen the route as soon as possible to ensure communication and trade," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters.

He said this while answering a question on Chinese efforts to re-open the route blocked by the massive earthquake that devastated Nepal in April, and in view of the squeezed supplies from India due to the agitation by Madhesis -- the Indian-origin inhabitants of the country's southern plains -- over the newly-promulgated Constitution.

The China-Nepal border is located on the high-altitude ranges of Tibet, and the now-closed route connecting the two sides was badly damaged in the April quake, cutting off any possibility of movement of goods through land route.

Nepal is facing an acute shortage of essential supplies, fuel and cooking gas prominent among them, due to the nearly- two-week-old blockade by Madhesis near the Nepal-India border checkpoints.

Madhesis and Tharu ethnic groups are protesting for more representation in the Constitution. They see the model to split Nepal into seven federal provinces as flawed and discriminatory to their rights.

More than 40 people have died in the agitation.

Nepal, a land-locked country bordered by India on the south, east and west, and China on the north, is dependent on its neighbours for transit and supplies.