Amid controversy over her plan to return to active politics through the CPN-UML, former President Bidya Devi Bhandari will kick off a 10-day official visit to China on Saturday. Her move is widely being seen as intended to garner support from the northern neighbour for her future political journey.

Bhandari will lead a 14-member delegation that includes Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari, and Raghubir Mahaseth, the head of foreign affairs of the UML.

According to the itinerary, the delegation will reach Beijing via Guangzhou on Sunday. That evening, Bhandari will attend a welcome banquet attended by political leaders from neighboring countries and Chinese officials from the International Liaison Department (ILD) of the Chinese Communist Party, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other government representatives.

Besides Bhandari and Mahaseth, who is also a former foreign minister, the delegation includes UML leaders Karna Thapa, Goma Devkota, Dr Kailash Bhandari (brother of the former President’s late husband Madan Bhandari), Bheshraj Adhikari, journalist Mahendra Bista, and Nepali ambassador to China Krishna Prasad Oli.

Still other members of the delegation include Binaya KC of the Madan Bhandari Foundation; Rajesh Prasain, former registrar of Madan Bhandari Health Science Academy; and Kalyan Raj Sharma of Friends of Silk Road Nepal.

Though most of the delegation members are close to the former president, the inclusion of Minister Damodar Bhandari in the entourage suggests both the UML party as well as the government endorses the visit.

“As [Bidya] Bhandari is a former head of the state and warming up to return to politics, which the constitution also allows, it would have been better had they included leaders from other parties too. This would have been a wonderful reflection of our multiparty democracy,” said former foreign minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey who is also a UML leader and former foreign minister. Pandey also served as ambassador to China during the Covid pandemic.

“The visit definitely carries a political message as she is also meeting the leaders of the Communist Party of China,” he said.

Bhandari’s plan to return to active UML politics has been alternately welcomed and condemned. Bhandari had planned to visit the northern neighbour in June last year but cancelled it later.

Some communist leaders and experts have even claimed that Bhandari and former vice president Nanda Bahadur Pun’s decision to return to active politics in UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), respectively, has the blessings of Beijing, which reportedly wants to bring Nepali communist parties, at least UML and Maoist Centre, together before the next parliamentary elections. Bhandari’s China visit, they say, fuel such speculations, although, according to her aides, she also plans to visit India soon.

“When a political person makes a foreign trip, there are always political objectives. The visit aims to strengthen the UML. The Chinese side might raise concern over delay in BRI-related projects as well,” said Ananda Pokharel, a UML leader from Dolakha who runs an NGO in northern districts mostly with Chinese support.

“We will also ask them to expedite BRI projects in Nepal,” he added.

Although the BRI framework agreement was signed between Nepal and China in 2017, not a single project has commenced over the past eight years. During Prime Minister KP Oli’s China visit in December last year, both sides had signed a renewed deal on BRI and agreed to execute 10 projects, but progress remains dismal.

On Friday, during the second meeting of the Mechanism for Facilitation on the Implementation of Nepal-China Cooperation Programmes and Projects in Nepal, the delay in implementation of BRI projects in Nepal was also discussed.

In Beijing, Bhandari will attend the opening ceremony of the Communist Party of China’s dialogue with political parties from neighboring countries. She will deliver a speech as the chief guest of honor, according to the itinerary.

After the event, Liu Jianchao, the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCCP), will call on Bhandari starting at 15:30 Beijing time. “The meeting is also a vital part of Bhandari’s itinerary,” said a member of Bhandari’s delegation.

The IDCCP manages relations with political parties across the globe including with Nepali parties.

Three UML leaders—Mahaseth, Kailash Bhandari and Thapa—will address the sub-forums titled “Dialogue and Consultation for Consolidating Strategic Mutual Trust”; “High-level Opening-up and the Integration of Asian Development” and “Expanding Exchanges and Enhancing Mutual Learning among Civilizations,” respectively.

On Tuesday, the delegation will visit the Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing and Minister Bhandari will meet with the leader of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). The delegation will also visit the Forbidden City and the Beijing Economic Development District.

On Tuesday evening, the delegation will leave Beijing for Dunhuang. On Thursday evening, they will attend a welcome banquet hosted by senior Chinese national leaders and IDCCP.

On Friday, the Nepali delegation will attend the opening ceremony of the Fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations where former president Bhandari will deliver a speech as the main guest of honor. On the same day, a meeting with the top leader of Gansu Province is also scheduled.

On Saturday, the Nepali delegation will take the high-speed rail from Dunhuang to JiaYuguan for an inspection tour.

Likewise, on Sunday, the delegation will take the city tour of JiaYuguan and in the evening, it will fly to Chengdu, before flying to Kathmandu on Monday.

Nepal-China project facilitation mechanism’s meeting concludes

Meanwhile, during the second meeting of the Mechanism for Facilitation on the Implementation of Nepal-China Cooperation Programmes and Projects in Nepal on Friday, Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai and Chinese ambassador Cheng Song co-chaired the meeting leading their respective delegations, said the foreign ministry.

The Nepali delegation consisted of senior officials from various ministries and agencies of the government of Nepal responsible for implementation of the Nepal- China programmes and projects, and the Chinese delegation consisted of senior officials of the Embassy of China in Kathmandu.

The meeting reviewed progress of ongoing Nepal-China economic and development cooperation programmes and projects, and identified measures to expedite their timely and effective implementation, said the foreign ministry. The mechanism, formed under the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 21, 2018, serves as a platform to review the status of ongoing Nepal-China programmes and projects, identifying challenges, if any, and taking measures to address them with priority, said the statement.

“All important cooperation programs and projects between the two countries were discussed for facilitation and acceleration,” ambassador Cheng wrote on X. “The 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Nepal will be a year of delivery,” added the post.