Kathmandu: Leaked documents of correspondence between Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kathmandu’s Chinese Embassy showed that China had put pressure on Nepal to accept its COVID-19 vaccine without its efficiency and efficacy being tested.
Based on the leaked documents, media in Nepal published stories on how China forced Nepal to welcome Sinovac vaccine produced by Sinopharm without any further delay.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a telephonic conversation with Nepal’s Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Friday in which the Asian giants pressurised Nepal on accepting the vaccine on a condition that details about the vaccine will be forwarded later.
According to Chinese Embassy’s letter, Nepal was pressurised to take the vaccine immediately (without necessary documents) with a warning that otherwise the country will have to be in a long queue to get the vaccine.
Kathmandu’s Chinese Embassy is yet to confirm the authenticity of the letter but Nepali officials confirmed that it was genuine.
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