Attempts to divide China will end in ‘shattered bones’, Xi warns

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping warned on Sunday that any attempt to divide China will be crushed, as Beijing faces political challenges in months-long protests in Hong Kong and U.S. criticism over its treatment of Muslim minority groups.

“Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones,” he told Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in a meeting on Sunday, according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV.

“And any external forces backing such attempts dividing China will be deemed by the Chinese people as pipe-dreaming!” he was quoted as saying. Xi, the first Chinese president to visit Nepal in 22 years, arrived in Nepal on Saturday on a state visit. Both sides are expected to sign a deal expanding a railway link between the Himalayan nation and Tibet.

Nepal’s Oli told Xi that the country will oppose any “anti-China activities” on its soil, CCTV reported. China, which is trying to de-escalate a protracted trade war with the United States, has seen its political authority tested by increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong against what is seen as Beijing’s tightening grip on the Chinese-ruled city.

Nepal pushes to end dependency on India with China rail, tunnel deals: Chinese President Xi Jinping wound up two days of meetings in Nepal on Sunday with separate deals for a rail link to Tibet and a tunnel, an official said, as the Himalayan nation seeks to end an Indian dominance over its trade routes by increasing connectivity with Beijing.

The 70-km (42-mile) rail link will connect Gyiron in Tibet with Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu, making it one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the country. A Chinese team has already conducted a preliminary study for the project, which will be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Xi’s signature diplomatic and trade push that is attempting to recreate the old Silk Road joining China with Asia and Europe.

Alongside, a proposed 28-km (17 mile) road tunnel will more than halve the distance from Kathmandu to the Chinese border, saving on time and cost.

Nepal and China signed 20 agreements on Sunday, including one on a trans-Himalayan railway, as Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a two-day visit to the Himalayan nation.

After talks in Kathmandu, Xi and Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli witnessed the signing of 18 agreements and two letters of exchange in areas of connectivity, security, border management, trade, tourism and education.

Xi, who arrived Saturday from India after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, became the first Chinese president in more than two decades to visit Nepal.