New Chinese envoy arriving on Saturday

REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, June 17: The newly-appointed Chinese ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan is arriving in Kathmandu on Saturday to take up his diplomatic assignment here.

The envoy Houlan is scheduled to present his credentials to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at a special function to be held at Shital Niwas on Monday.


China named Houlan the ambassador to Nepal last month as the successor of Qiu Guohong after the latter made premature departure to Beijing on April 8, eight months before the expiry of his three-year term. As a high-profile security expert with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yang served as China´s ambassador for Korean Peninsula Affairs before being sent on Nepal assignment.

For the past two years, he was involved in dealings of the Six-Party-Talks, a group of six powerful nations comprising the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea, formed to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear ambition. The envoy had served as China´s ambassador to war-ravaged Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia before his appointment for Korean Peninsula Affairs.

Along with Yang, newly appointed non-resident envoys to Nepal Geoffrey Doidge, of South Africa, Javier Elorzsa, of Spain, Dr Nanguyalai Tarzi, of Afghanistan, and Thongphanh Syackhaphom, of Lao People´s Democratic Republic, are also presenting their credential to President Dr Yadav on Monday.