[Part 2]: The ambassador who witnessed the Nepali Royal Massacre
Zeng Xuyong (Former Chinese ambassador to Nepal and Kuwait). Originally published in 27th April 2015
Many Nepali people do not believe that Dipendra, the heir to the throne, would kill his parents and his entire family. After the tragedy at the palace, some newspapers and public figures have publicly questioned: Why did Prince Gyanendra happen to be not in the capital when the tragedy happened?
Why did Crown Prince Dipendra shoot the king and others at a royal gathering, and once aimed at Prince Gyanendra's son Paras, but did not shoot him in the end?
The (Chinese) central government pays attention to the palace tragedy
(Chinese Foreign) Minister instructs to intensify research
Nepal is a friendly neighbor of our country. King Birendra has been on the throne for nearly 30 years and has made important contributions to the development of China-Nepal friendly and cooperative relations. He is a sincere friend of the Chinese people. Birendra was born in Kathmandu in December 1945. After inheriting the throne in 1972, he insisted on pursuing a friendly policy towards China. After he succeeded to the throne, he made a great contribution for Sino-Nepali friendship. In 1974, he mobilized the royal army to suppress thousands of Tibetan rebels entrenched in the northern border of Nepal, disarmed the rebels at one stroke and restored peace and tranquility in the border of Nepal and Tibet.
Birendra has visited China 10 times, his last visit was 3 months before his death (26 February to 4 March 2001). At the invitation of President Jiang Zemin, King Birendra, as the only foreign head of state and special guest, attended the inaugural meeting of the Asia Forum held in Boao, Hainan and paid a state visit to China (this was also the last time King Birendra went abroad during his lifetime). On May 15, 2001, King and Queen Birendra cordially met and hosted a banquet at the Royal Palace for Premier Zhu Rongji and his wife who were on an official goodwill visit to Nepal. This was also the last time the king received a foreign head of government during his lifetime. Because of this, the murder of the royal family in Nepal on June 1 aroused great attention from the central government. On June 3, President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji expressed their deep condolences and condolences for the unfortunate death of King Birendra in their speeches and condolences, and spoke highly of his outstanding contributions to the good-neighborly and friendly relations between China and Nepal. It is worth mentioning that it is extremely rare in my country's (China) diplomatic history that President Jiang expresses his condolences by making a speech instead of sending a condolence message. This is because after the tragedy in the palace, the Nepali side declared Crown Prince Dipendra to succeed the king according to the law, But Dipendra himself was the perpetrator of the tragedy and was in a coma. It was obviously inappropriate to send a message of condolence to Dipendra, so he adopted a special way of delivering a condolence speech.
After learning of the tragedy at the palace in Nepal, on the morning of June 2, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan personally instructed our Embassy to understand the background and reasons of the incident as soon as possible, as well as the impact on the political situation in Nepal and China-Nepal relations, etc., and at the same time instructed me to appropriately postpone the time of leaving office (previously the Ministry had informed me that I will leave in June and will be transferred to Kuwait. According to domestic instructions, in the nearly two months before I left office at the end of July, I actively carried out external activities, combined with farewell visits, visited and met people from all walks of life in Nepal, especially high-level politicians, including Prime Minister Koirala, Speaker, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, several ministers, several senior former Prime Ministers such as Bista and Thapa, the main leaders of the ruling Congress Party, Bhattarai and Deuba, and the general secretary of the second largest party, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist). Nepal, second-in-command Oli, etc. also reported the important situation and my views and suggestions to the country in detail, which provided an important basis for us to grasp the political development of Nepal after the palace tragedy in a timely and accurate manner.
Gyanendra takes the throne
Meeting the last king twice
Many Nepali people do not believe that Dipendra, the heir to the throne, would kill his parents and his entire family. After the tragedy at the palace, some newspapers and private people have openly questioned: Why did Prince Gyanendra happen to be not in the capital when the tragedy happened? Why did Crown Prince Dipendra shoot the king and others at a royal gathering, and once aimed at Prince Gyanendra's son Paras, but did not shoot him in the end? The implication is whether Gyanendra and his son were involved in the plot behind the massacre. However, subsequent investigations found no evidence, and this "conspiracy theory" was dismissed.
In the early morning of June 4, Dipendra (who only served as the nominal king for three days according to the constitutional procedure) died of his injuries in the hospital. That morning, the Council of Ministers held an emergency meeting and announced that Gyanendra, the regent, had succeeded the king of Nepal. On the same day, King Gyanendra held a coronation ceremony at Hanuman Dhoka.
Interestingly, this is Gyanendra's second time as king. The first time he was king was in 1950. At that time, the armed struggle and people's movement against the rule of the Rana family were surging in Nepal. King Gyanendra's grandfather, King Tribhuvan, went into exile in India to avoid accidents. The ruler of Rana announced that King Tribhuvan would be deposed. The three year-old Gyanendra was king - of course it was just a puppet "Emperor Son". A few months later, the Rana regime was overthrown and King Tribhuvan was restored to the throne. And the historical opportunity caused by this palace tragedy made Gyanendra the real king. However, the monarchy that goes against the historical trend will not escape the fate of collapse, and Gyanendra has also become the last monarch of Nepal.
Since I took office in May 1998, my contact with Prince Gyanendra has been mainly at the King's Birthday Reception held annually at the Royal Palace. Contact on this occasion is basically a courtesy greeting. In February 2000, I had a longer conversation with him. At that time, Prince Gyanendra, in the name of the chairman of the Nepal Wildlife Conservation Foundation, invited the ambassadors of China, the United States, Germany, India and Pakistan to Nepal to go to Chitwan National Park, a famous wildlife reserve in southern Nepal, for a holiday. There, I had a private conversation with Prince Gyanendra for about 2 hours at the request and briefed him on the new progress of China-Nepal relations and China's views on the international situation, China-US relations, China-India relations and the situation in South Asia. view. In addition to saying some friendly words to China, he mainly listened to what I had to say about other aspects, and rarely expressed his own views. I understand that it was a friendly diplomatic activity with several major powers authorized by the king, in order to understand the views of each country on the international situation.
Before I left office, I met with King Gyanendra twice. For the first time, on the afternoon of June 20, King Gyanendra met with the ambassadors of various countries in Nepal at the palace, accompanied by Prime Minister Koirala and Foreign Minister Bastola. According to the usual practice, the ambassadors of various countries will be in the protocol order of their arrival, led by the protocol director, and take turns to shake hands with the king and have a brief conversation. I conveyed President Jiang Zemin's warm congratulations and best wishes to King Gyanendra on his ascension to the throne. Gyanendra thanked President Jiang for his congratulations, and said that he would continue to pursue King Birendra's policy of friendship with China, and he asked China to rest assured. He said, he learned that I was leaving and would see me next Monday.
The second and last time I met with King Gyanendra was on June 25, which was "next Monday" as Gyanendra said. That was my farewell call. After 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I drove from the west gate into the palace. The meeting was still arranged in the office and reception room where King Birendra has received me many times in the past. Similarly, we met alone, without any assistants.
King Gyanendra and I greeted each other and shook hands. After the two sides took their seats, they began to talk. This conversation mainly involved three points.
1. On bilateral relations. He first thanked President Jiang for his condolences and condolences on the unfortunate death of King Birendra and Queen, thanked President Jiang for his congratulations on his ascension to the throne, and asked me to convey my greetings and best wishes to President Jiang and other Chinese leaders. Then, he expounded the friendly relations between China and Nepal in a longer space, emphasizing that he will inherit the China policy of his father and brother, and make every effort to consolidate and develop the friendly relations with China.
2. About the Royal Massacre. The commission of inquiry appointed after Gyanendra took over had already released detailed findings. Although I wanted to hear what he had to say when I said goodbye to King Gyanendra, I felt uncomfortable to ask directly. Unexpectedly, he took the initiative to talk about this in this meeting. "With regard to the incident at the palace on June 1, I never imagined such a tragedy would occur” he said. My relationship with my brother Birendra was extremely close and I am deeply saddened by his passing. I don't know the reason for the accident. It is said to be a marital problem, but Crown Prince Dipendra never talked to me. During King Birendra's visit to China, the crown prince was the regent, and I was assisted by him, and we were on good terms. As for his disputes with his parents over the marriage issue, I don't know either. But the investigation proved it was the crown prince who did it. This has been the case, and now I can only inherit the legacy of my father and brother and complete their unfinished business.
3. The domestic political situation of Nepal. I am not optimistic about the future of Nepal's domestic political situation after Gyanendra takes office. Gyanendra has always been considered a "hardliner" in the Nepali Royal Family, advocating a tough stance against domestic anti-royal political forces and maintaining the monarchy. During this conversation, Gyanendra informed me of his views on the domestic situation in Nepal, expressing dissatisfaction with the current political chaos in Nepal; Badly handled; political parties fight each other and 'Maoist' violence is rampant". In this case, "the king should play his due role", and he considered taking measures to correct if necessary, including the establishment of a national government to improve the domestic situation. He said he would "make decisions within the framework of the constitution and proceed from the fundamental interests of the country" and hoped China would understand. Gyanendra's remarks suggest he may take a tough approach to crushing the opposition and restoring the king's real power. This made me even more uneasy and worried because I think the royal massacre not only lost Nepal King Birendra, a politician with higher prestige and stability, but also suffered a heavy blow to the authority of the king and the royal family; and Gyanendra's prestige is far less than that of Birendra. If he really adopts a tough policy and intensifies domestic conflicts, I am afraid that the Nepali monarchy will not escape the fate of collapse. I also stated my above analysis and views in my departure report.
Unsurprisingly, in the second year after Gyanendra's ascension to the throne, he took measures such as disbanding the cabinet, postponing the general election, personally taking charge of the government, and sending the army to directly participate in the armed struggle to suppress the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), resulting in domestic conflicts. This intensified the political situation and got worse day by day. In April 2006, all major political parties in Nepal jointly launched a nationwide campaign against the king, and Gyanendra was forced to announce the restoration of parliament. In May, the parliament unanimously passed a resolution depriving the king of all powers. In May 2008, Nepal's Constituent Assembly passed a resolution announcing the establishment of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and deposed the king. So far, the Nepali monarchy has come to an end.
The link to the original article can be found here.
Part 1 of the article has already been published in our blog. Can be accessed here.