China has lodged a strong protest with Nepal after hundreds of copies of a book written by President Xi Jinping were burned at Manamohan Technical College in Budhiganga, Morang, on Saturday night.

Reacting to the incident, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu on Sunday sent a note verbale to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging prompt action against those involved, officials at the foreign ministry told the Post.

But it remains unknown why so many copies of the book were kept at the technical college.

The Morang district administration and Koshi provincial police are investigating the case, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The incident was first reported by the Biratnagar-based news website Live News Raftar on Saturday night. In one video clip, some people inside the Manamohan Technical College are seen burning several books and documents, including the book by the Chinese president.

In the video footage seen and reviewed by the Post, some books, including President Xi’s “The Governance of China” were set on fire along with other books. Some people are seen holding up Xi’s book to the camera.

After the video went viral, the chief district officer of Morang district, Yuvaraj Kattel, telephoned Live News Rafter office and asked them to delete it, saying it could harm Nepal-China relations.

“We have instructed local officials in Morang to investigate the matter and take action against those involved,” Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal told the Post.

He confirmed that China had sent a note verbale to the foreign ministry on Sunday. Acting upon the Chinese request, the foreign ministry on Sunday took up the matter with the Home Ministry.

Officials at both ministries said that China has also been expressing concerns over other recent developments, including visits by Rinpoches [Tibetan spiritual leaders] to Kathmandu. At China’s request, the government did not allow one Rinpoche to visit Nepal last month.

Likewise, the Chinese have also expressed concerns over developments such as the corruption case related to the Pokhara International Airport project, in which Chinese firms are implicated, and over other issues including cancellation of a telecommunications billing tender and decisions on 5G contracts involving Chinese firm Huawei, they said.

One Facebook user, Bijaya Thapa, who obtained the video, claims that at midnight, thousands of copies of The Governance of China, a collection of China’s political and policy ideas written by President Xi, were burned inside the Manamohan College.

“Why did such activities take place? Where were those thousands of books brought from, and for what purpose were they burned? Authorities should pay serious attention to this matter,” Thapa wrote on his Facebook wall, tagging the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.

The college, which aspires to be a university, was set up by CPN-UML leaders. According to the college website, the late UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari served as president of the college from August 6 to March 2, 2019. The current president is UML leader and former deputy prime minister Ishwar Pokhrel, who has held the position since November 14, 2019.

Sonu Kumar Das, the editor of Live News Raftar, told the Post that he saw a large number of copies of the Chinese president’s book being burned, while many others are still stored in the college.

He said he had received a tip-off that some sensitive or corruption-related documents were set to be destroyed at the college.

“On Saturday evening, I got a message from someone that the college is going to burn down some documents. Initially, the college administration did not allow us to enter the college premises. Later, some students took me inside the college building where those books and other items were set on fire. I was astonished that such a large number of copies of the book by Xi Jinping were burnt down,” he told the Post from Biratnagar.

He interviewed several people, including the dean of the college, Dr Rekha Shrestha, who told Das that these books had been lying unused for years and were burned because they had been infested with worms.

But Das said most of the burned or half-burned books were almost new. “They told me they burnt the books to clear space in the lab room,” he told the Post.

Meanwhile, Kattel, the chief district officer of Morang, told the Post that after some media reported the incident, the matter was taken up with the college administration, which has yet to submit a report.

“This is a serious matter related to our neighbourhood, and given our close relations with China, we cannot tolerate such incidents. Since this is a sensitive issue, we are trying to find out the truth,” Kattel told the Post, confirming that he had received a call from the Home Ministry that China was also concerned about the incident.

Kattel said the college administration told him that due to lack of storage space and the need to clear the room, junior staffers had burned the books and other items.