A Facebook user posted a video with English subtitles and captioned it as follows:
“एम.सि.सि खारेज गरे चिनले बि. आर. आइ. अन्तर्गतको ६० अर्व र द्रुत विकासको लागि १ खर्व रकम दिने चिनको घोषण २०७८ पौष ९”
Translation: “M. C. China dismissed C. B. R. Aye. China declares to give 1 billion under and 2 trillion for rapid development 2078[1] Posh 9”.
[1] Nepali Calendar is an official calendar of Nepal. It is approximately 56 years and 8½ months ahead of the Gregorian calendar (A.D).
The post was made by a user named Arjun Shrestha on Facebook. It had 3.1K views when the data was retrieved.
Fact Check
China has not officially made any announcement whether Nepal should ratify the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) or not. In January, 2021, Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanchi expressed the Chinese government’s views on the MCC.
According to a report in the Kathmandu Post, Ambassador Yanchi said: “We welcome any international assistance to Nepal if it is for economic cooperation. We would like to see the ratification process of the MCC and the Nepal government take a positive decision for its interest.” (For financial assistance, we welcome any international assistance to Nepal. We would like to see the MCC ratification process and the Government of Nepal make a positive decision in its own interest).
Questions and answers about MCC and Nepal were answered at a press conference held by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing.
In this context, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that China has never imposed its will on others.So, has China announced Rs 60 billion under BRI and Rs 100 billion for rapid development?
Nepal signed the BRI, or China’s Belt and Road Initiative, in May 2017. Since then, Nepal has been participating in the BRI Conference from 2018 to 2021, but not much progress has been made in any of the BRI projects. Nepal initially proposed 35 projects under the BRI Framework. When China asked to reduce it to single digit, nine projects were made and submitted to China.
Zhou Sengping, former head of Xinhua’s Kathmandu bureau, wrote in the Annapurna Express that the first phase of the BRI is set to attract 100 million dollars in Chinese investment in three years. But in May 2020, not a single project was completed and the MoU on BRI expired. Another three-year term expires in 2023.
In the viral post, it has been claimed that China has announced to give Rs 60 billion under BRI and Rs 100 billion for rapid development with the date of January 26, 2078. But at this time and in recent times, we have not found any such announcement by the Chinese government. The last time Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed[1] an international conference on Nepal’s reconstruction was on December 8. He did not announce any new assistance.
Source
https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/127420
Rating
Disinformation/ Propaganda
Conclusion
Independent social media user took internet by storm when he shared a video in Chinese language and captioned it that Chinese are willing to provide aid worth 160 billion for projects under Belt & Road initiative (BRI). This claim is bogus and baseless, Chinese officials in Nepal or Chinese Foreign minister have never claimed to invest in Nepal on terms of rejecting Millennium Corporate Challenge – funded by the United States. The spread of disinformation regarding MCC is to oppose the compact between Nepal and United States, ever since Nepal government had ratified the compact the general public is on road protesting[1] against the decision. This post is a part of propaganda to sabotage the process of MCC.
[1] http://thecpn.org/detail/116///massive-public-protest-rally-against-mcc-held-in-kathmandu
ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis
| Actor | Millennium Corporate Challenge critics; mainly supporters of opposition party in Nepal, are bombarding social media with fake news on MCC |
| Behavior | An independent Facebook post claimed that China has offered 160 billion Belt Road Initiative Project to Nepal if MCC is rejected. |
| Content | Facebook post. |
| Degree | Disinformation is step by step arising as a threat connected with MCC, purpose of spreading this misinformation can be discourage people who support the compact between Nepal and U.S. |
| Effect | The spread of disinformation regarding MCC is to oppose the compact between Nepal and United States, ever since Nepal government had ratified the compact the general public is on road protesting against the decision. This post is a part of propaganda to sabotage the process of MCC. |