Tuesday, July 4 2006 17:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kathmandu: Upset at media reports that a large number of Tibetan refugees living in Nepal would be resettled in the US, China is sending an envoy here to thrash out the issue.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Wu Daewi arrives in Kathmandu on July 27 on a three-day visit to discuss the status of Tibetans living in Nepal with the new government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

The Kathmandu Post daily Tuesday reported that Wu would launch an official complaint with the Koirala government.

After nationwide protests forced King Gyanendra to step down in April, the new government eased one restriction on the Tibetan refugees it agreed to issue travel documents to those who have been residing in Nepal for a long time and have identity cards issued by the Nepal government.

However, the fate of hundreds of Tibetans who are in Nepal in transit is still in jeopardy since they are neither being issued exit permits to proceed to their preferred destination nor being given documents to reside in Nepal.

Also, in a denial that has serious implications, the Nepal government does not allow Tibetan refugees to register marriages or births of their children.

China, which invaded and annexed Tibet in 1949-50, doesn't recognise Tibetan refugees. According to Beijing, the thousands of Tibetans who flee to third countries via Nepal every year are 'illegal immigrants' and should either be deported to China or be punished according to Nepalese laws dealing with illegal visitors.

When Gyanendra was in power, in return for Beijing's support for his coup and absolute reign, Nepal upheld the One China policy that considers Tibet and Taiwan to be inalienable parts of the Chinese republic. It also began cracking down on the Tibetans fleeing from Chinese control.

In January 2005, when the king was controlling the government through his nominated prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Nepal government closed down the Kathmandu office of the representative of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan temporal and spiritual leader.

When the king's direct rule began in 2005, the royalist government further clamped down on the fleeing Tibetans, refusing to issue them exit passes in contravention of a tacit agreement to do so.

With Beijing stepping up its arms sale to the isolated royal regime and pressuring it to deport Tibetans, Washington agreed to grant asylum to about 5,000 Tibetan refugees, who were especially vulnerable to the pressure. The resettling is expected to take place by next year.

Last month, when Nepal's foreign minister K.P. Oli visited Geneva to attend the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing raised the issue with him.