An unknown China

In your opinion, what is the importance of the study of China for Nepal?

China is a great country and it’s the cradle of civilization. If we don’t know China, we will not know a big part of the world because China comprises nearly 1/5 of the world population.

We have been enjoying healthy ties with China since the ancient times. We have to look into the matter in two different ways. Looking through the global perspective, China is one of the most important nations of the world. Secondly, we are neighbors and we need to know China to make it our source of inspiration for development. If we become able to emulate Chinese model of development, Nepal will be able to grow at much higher pace.

Please introduce the whole situation of academic research about China in Nepal.

Not much has been done in the field. Firstly, because our education institutions have yet to make studies of China a major component in their curriculum.

If there had been a department of study of China in the universities, then there would be many students devoting time on researching on different aspect of China. In recent years, many Nepalis are aware about Chinese culture because quite a number of books have been written on Nepal-Chinese culture relation. About economic relations, there is not much academic research; the same applies to science and technology. The universities have to give more emphasis on creating think tanks because it will provide the roots for various academic researches. To know China, we need a lot of effort because China is a big country. There are so many areas we have yet to know about China.

We need a library. If you examine the situation carefully, there is a culture center even of a small European country, but we don’t have a library for Chinese studies.

How many experts are now researching about China?

Talking about our intuition, we have quite a large number of people conducting researches on various aspects of China, but all of them have the same problem: they don’t have enough materials to base their researches on.

Actually, if you talk about research on China, you will not find books that are thoroughly dedicated researches.

As I said earlier, we have quite a lot of people willing to conduct researches about China, but the lack of materials on the subject have deprived them from pursuing their work. Anyway, I hope the number of researches will grow because the relations between Nepal and China is growing stronger.

How about the level of scholarships?

The number of scholarships is growing over the years. The Chinese Government has increased the number of scholarship to Nepali students. Last time, when the Chinese State Councilor was here, he said that China would raise the number of Chinese scholarships by 500 more. What I feel is that the scholarships should be provided in all the fields not just in the technical sectors such as medical studies and engineering. I am not saying we don’t need doctors and engineers, but we also need to send students to study other subjects such as the Chinese economy, science and agriculture.

Is there any economist focusing on researching China’s economy?

Actually there are quite a number of people who write articles on Chinese economy. But I doubt there is anyone in Nepal who has focused entirely on Chinese economy.

How to advance and better the academic research of China?

In order to advance and better the academic research on China, we need a good base, we need financial help. We need to introduce Chinese experts on different fields for Nepali experts. Nepali experts need to visit China and see by themselves because first-hand experience is always the best knowledge. In Nepal, there should be enough books on China.

What is your personal contribution towards China’s study?

My personal contribution is that not much of which I can boast. When we opened China Study Center its primary purpose was to know about China, to disseminate information about China to the people. We have been able to publish a few dozen books in different aspects of China. We have organized seminars on various other issues, but these are not enough. Like I said, in order to know China we have to spend considerable time and effort because China is a big country. It’s not just the ancient civilization but China in itself is civilization.

My contribution is very humble. I am trying to help create the atmosphere so that more students will be able to come to center to talk about China. I have been writing articles for decades, I am happy I have contributed a little to help Nepali people know about China.

What are the challenges faced by China Study Center?

Frankly speaking we have not been fully functional. We have no major help from any government sides but we feel that the center should carry on with our individual effort. We have also expanded the centers in Biratnagar, Lumbini and Butwal, but we have not been able to do much due to the lack of resources. In our center, we have about 80 highly educated members. Among them, almost 20 of them have a doctorate degree. I think this is one of the few centers in Nepal where there is presence of a large number of experts. All of them work voluntarily.

( The interviewee is the Chairman of China Studay Center of Nepal)