Beijing sending top CPC leader to Kathmandu as ruling NCP stares at split

Kathmandu, Dec 26 : China is sending one of its top party leaders to Kathmandu as part of its last ditch effort to save the ruling Communist party from splitting.
Nepal’s ruling party – Nepal Communist Party – is headed for a split following the move by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to dissolve the House on Sunday.
Vice-minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Guo Yezhou, is visiting Nepal at a time when the intra-party feud of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has reached a climax.
The decision to dissolve the House has surprised the Chinese and they are also concerned about a series of visits from India in the past two months, including one Standing Committee member who is aware of the Chinese position on Nepal, Nepal’s leading english language newspaper, Kathmandu Post, wrote in its online version on Saturday.
Protesting Oli’s move to dissolve the House and announcement of the snap polls in April/May, the ruling party has vertically split into two factions – one led by Oli and another by former prime ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Guo is arriving in Kathmandu on Sunday on a four-day visit when he is expected to meet top ruling party leaders, including President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Oli and Prachanda, among others, a senior ruling party leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.