Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba is leaving for Hong Kong on Wednesday night to participate as an observer in the signing ceremony of the Beijing-backed Convention on the Establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation, at the invitation of Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. The initiative is seen as a rival to Western-backed mediation organisations.
Although the Chinese government requested Nepal to become a member of the organisation, Nepal declined, stating that it has not joined similar mediation-related organisations in the past.
The signing ceremony will be held in Hong Kong on May 30, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The foreign minister is leading a delegation comprising senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Consulate General of Nepal in Hong Kong.
According to the Chinese foreign ministry, in 2022, China and nearly 20 countries with similar positions jointly launched the initiative to establish the International Organisation for Mediation.
“Through concerted efforts, the negotiations on the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation have been concluded, and all sides agreed to situate its headquarters in Hong Kong, China,” a Chinese foreign ministry statement said.
“Almost 60 countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, and around 20 international organizations including the UN will send high-level representatives to the signing ceremony on May 30. The Global Forum on International Mediation will be held in the afternoon that day to carry out discussions on mediation of disputes between States and mediation of disputes between a State and foreign investors and commercial disputes, among other issues,” said the statement.
The establishment of the organisation is a response to the shared need of countries in the world for peace, stability and development, and echoes the call of today’s world for cooperation and mutual benefit, said the Chinese foreign ministry in a statement, adding, “It pools the strengths of all major legal systems, and will help bring about more fair and equitable global governance on the rule of law.”
“We welcome support and participation from more countries in creating the International Organisation for Mediation, to better enable it to coordinate with existing international disputes settlement mechanisms to make each other more effective, and provide more options and pathways to resolve international disputes through efficient and peaceful means, and better safeguard international fairness and justice,” the ministry added.
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