Journalist Questions Bidya Bhandari’s Selection for China Governance Forum

Dragon Media Newsroom

Former President and senior CPN-UML leader Bidya Devi Bhandari’s participation in the Global Governance Forum in Xiong’an, China, has prompted debate over her selection and the level at which Nepal was represented. Senior journalist Khildhoj Thapa questioned on social media why a second-tier woman leader was chosen while the party’s top-ranked leaders remained active.

Thapa wrote: “One can more or less understand why China’s President Xi chose the CPN-UML from Nepal to participate in the Global Governance Forum in Beijing. But it is difficult to understand why a second-ranked woman leader was selected when first-ranked leaders are active. Perhaps that is why the country’s prominent political analysts have remained silent.”

However, available information shows that the forum was held from October 23 to 25 in Xiong’an New Area, Hebei Province, not Beijing. It was organised by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs. China’s Foreign Ministry said President Xi Jinping sent a message to the forum, while Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended its opening ceremony and delivered the keynote address. Publicly available information does not say that Xi personally selected Bhandari or the CPN-UML.

News reports, citing Bhandari’s secretariat, said she attended at the invitation of the Chinese government and was scheduled to address the forum as a special guest. In her address, she called for climate justice and greater cooperation among Himalayan countries on weather data, glacier monitoring, early-warning systems and disaster response.

Public reports do not clarify whether Bhandari attended as part of an official party delegation or as a former president invited in her own capacity. Her participation has drawn political comment because she is also a senior CPN-UML leader. Neither the organisers nor her secretariat has publicly explained the political significance of her invitation.

The episode raises two separate questions: in what capacity was Nepal represented at the international forum, and what message did the invitation to a former president and senior party leader convey while the party’s top leadership remained active? Available facts confirm Bhandari’s participation and address, but do not establish the political intent behind her selection.