A Member of Parliament on Monday demanded the government's position on a statement issued by the Embassy of China in Kathmandu regarding an article published in The Kathmandu Post on February 18.

Addressing Monday's meeting of the Lower House, Pradeep Yadav, a lawmaker from the Samajbadi Party, asked Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali to clarify the government’s position over the threatening letter to the Post.

Read our editorial: Why China’s statement targeting The Post is a cause for concern

“The letter is not just a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations but also an attack on freedom of the press guaranteed by the constitution of Nepal,” said Yadav. “The Nepal government should present its position on the issue before Parliament.”

The Post, on February 18, had republished an article titled ‘China’s secrecy has made coronavirus crisis much worse’ by Ivo Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO. The article was originally published in The Korea Herald, a member of Asia News Network, where the Post is also a member. The accompanying illustration showed Mao Zedong wearing a mask.

In its statement, the Chinese embassy not only took exception to the article and the accompanying illustration, but also identified the Post’s outgoing Editor-in-Chief Anup Kaphle by name, employed disparaging language, and went so far as to make a veiled threat of “further action.”

Yadav said Nepalis respect the political system of China but China must also respect the constitutional authority the media in Nepal enjoy.

“The attack on the media is an attack on democracy,” said Yadav.