KATHMANDU - Nepal told Tibetan exiles on Friday it would not allow them to organise protests against China as it geared up for a landmark visit by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.
"We are committed not to allowing any political activities by the Tibetans," Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola told reporters.
Poverty-stricken Nepal is home to up to 20,000 Tibetan exiles, the second highest number in the world after India. They arrived after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 led by the Dalai Lama who fled to India.
Zhu is due to arrive in Kathmandu on Monday for a three-day official visit, the first by a Chinese prime minister in 12 years.
The landlocked central Himalayan nation recognises Tibet as an integral part of its powerful Chinese neighbour. It has pursued a policy of allowing Tibetan refugees to remain as long as they carry out no anti-Chinese political activities.
Western human rights groups have accused China of seeking to destroy Tibetan religion and culture. Beijing denies the charges, saying it is seeking to lift the region out of poverty.
"We are aware of their concern" about the activities of Tibetans in Nepal, Bastola said. He did not elaborate.
Zhu's trip is part of a swing through Asia that will also take him to Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Bastola said Kathmandu and Beijing were due to sign six economic cooperation agreements during the visit. They included construction of a road and an end to double taxation to promote Chinese investment in Nepal.
China, a major aid donor to Nepal, invested 848 million Nepali rupees ($11.34 million) in Nepal and was the fifth biggest foreign invester after India, the United States, Britain and Norway in 1999, the latest year for which figures were available.
Nepal is also keen to increase its exports to China which were worth just 1.86 million Nepali rupees in 1999/00 (mid-July to mid-July) while its imports totalled 8.341 billion rupees.
09:29 05-11-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.