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Nepal Flash Floods: China on Thursday strongly dismissed Nepal’s allegations that a collapsed “geological disaster dam” on the Chinese side triggered the catastrophic flash floods that tore through the region. Labelling the claims as “fake news,” the Chinese Embassy in Nepal also rejected reports that Beijing failed to issue an early warning to Kathmandu ahead of the disaster.
China Rejects Nepal's Flash Flood Claims
In a post on X, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal stated that the devastation was actually caused by an earthquake-induced glacier collapse originating on the Nepali side. Urging both nations to halt the blame game, the post stated that "accusation helps nothing, cooperation saves lives.” Beijing's statement comes amid a humanitarian crisis, with more than 270 people confirmed dead and over 1,300 missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists and Indian nationals.
China On Flood Origin
The embassy also shared Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Zhang Maoming’s conversation with NTV World on the devastating flash floods in Rasuwa region. On asked whether the embassy has any information on how the floods originated, Maoming called it an “unfortunate natural disaster”, asserting that China has been working closely with Nepal and supporting each other in responding to the disaster.
“Based on preliminary information currently available, an earthquake occurred on the Nepali side this morning, triggering an ice avalanche and subsequently mudslides, which caused significant casualties and left people missing on both the Nepali and Chinese sides of the Gyirong-Rasuwagadhi border region,” the Chinese ambassador said.
On being asked about the coordination between the two governments during difficult times, Maoming emphasised that Chinese President Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the disaster and issued important instructions. He informed that Jinping has particularly stressed the need to strengthen monitoring and early warning systems, while ensuring science-based rescue efforts to prevent secondary disasters.
“Following the disaster, the Chinese Embassy in Nepal immediately activated its emergency response mechanism, assessed the situation of Chinese citizens and enterprises in the affected areas in Nepal, and requested the Nepali government and relevant authorities to make every effort to carry out rescue operations,” Maoming said.
Nepal Seeks Information From China
China’s response came after critics and local reports in Nepal alleged that China failed to provide a timely early warning, adding that the sudden flood was caused by a bursting upstream dam project. Earlier, The Kathmandu Post had reported that Nepal is yet to determine what triggered the devastating Bhote Koshi flash floods and has sought information from several research centres and Chinese authorities.
Speaking to the news outlet, Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said, "Since there is no one at the Nepal-China border point and no information is available from the scientific community due to bad weather, we are seeking real-time information from different research centres as well as from the Chinese authorities."
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