Chinese Foreign Ministry rebukes false remarks about cause of mudslide

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that experts and official institutes from China and Nepal have assessed the cause of the disaster, concluding that the collapse of a high-altitude glacier in Nepal triggered the mudslide.

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks in response to inappropriate statements by some foreign media about the cause of the recent landslide disaster at the China-Nepal border port.

In the face of major disasters, China firmly oppose malicious speculation that has no factual basis, Guo told reporters at a regular press briefing.

After the disaster, the Chinese government provided Nepal with emergency cash assistance and humanitarian aid, and the first 50 tonnes of disaster relief supplies have already been delivered to Kathmandu, Guo said.

Two teams of Chinese tunnel rescue experts have also been dispatched to the disaster-hit areas in Nepal, and China has shared critical information with Nepal, including imagery, satellite and hydrological data from the affected areas, as well as early warnings of upstream barrier lakes, Guo added.

Meanwhile, China is actively assisting stranded Nepali citizens in returning to Nepal as soon as possible.

As of noon yesterday, all Chinese nationals who had been contacted in the disaster-hit areas of Nepal had been safely evacuated and relocated, Guo said.

At the moment, China is making every effort to search for and rescue both Chinese and foreign people who remain unaccounted for in the disaster, Guo noted.