Chinese foreign minister visits Nepal to shore up ties

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met top Nepalese officials during a three-day trip, which comes just weeks after Nepal’s parliament approved a contentious half-billion-dollar aid grant from the United States. Wang held talks with his counterpart and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday. He is scheduled to meet several political leaders. China has been pushing its Belt and Road Initiative to invest in development projects in Nepal. Beijing has been one of Nepal’s biggest donors but lately its help come through loans financed by Chinese state-owned banks. The recently approved U.S assistance, by contrast, was a grant for the construction of power transmission lines and improvement of roads in the Himalayan nation.