China’s leader, Xi Jinping, extended his condolences to Nepal’s president on Friday over the hundreds of deaths caused by the landslide on the countries’ border and pledged China’s support in Nepal’s aid efforts.
“I am confident that the people of both countries will be able to join hands to overcome the disaster and rebuild their homes,” Mr. Xi said in a message to Nepal’s president, Ram Chandra Paudel, reported by Chinese state media. The message, his first addressed to Nepal’s government since the disaster on Wednesday, noted that the countries are geographically connected and “share a common destiny.”
At the same time, Chinese officials have tried subtly to emphasize that the origins of the disaster were across the border.
On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources released details of what it called the “basic disaster chain,” saying that the flood was caused by a high-altitude avalanche in Nepal that flowed into China along the Gyirong Tsangpo River and leveled a border crossing, before twisting back into Nepal, wiping out villages there. Almost all of China’s official statements and state media reports have used similar language.
Satellite imagery analyzed by The New York Times suggests that the landslide was likely caused by a glacier collapsing on the Langtang Lirung, a mountain in Nepal.
The official Chinese statements came as comments circulated on social media that Beijing bore responsibility for the disaster and the heavy numbers of dead and missing. Critics have accused China, without evidence, of not issuing an early warning after the avalanche occurred or of destabilizing the ground in the Himalayas by constructing hydropower dams in Tibet.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in Nepal called those theories “fake news.” China’s ambassador to Kathmandu, Zhang Maoming, went on Nepali state television on Wednesday to emphasize that preliminary evidence showed the disaster had started on the Nepalese side of the border.
“We stand strong with Nepal at this difficult time,” he said.
Beijing’s efforts to shape the narrative are in line with its focus on controlling information on the crisis.
China has confirmed that five people have died in Tibet and that 558 others are missing since the deluge, but has released scant detail. Independent journalists are barred from Tibet. Chinese social media platforms have censored content that is not state-sanctioned, including videos taken by bystanders and drone photos of the collapsed glacier taken by hikers.
