This research conducts a comparative content analysis of two leading English-language newspapers, The Kathmandu Post and Rising Nepal, to examine the media framing of China’s cultural and educational diplomacy in Nepal. This study employs a frame analysis methodology alongside a qualitative content analysis approach to systematically examine thirty news items published from 2021 to early 2025. Key themes were coded and examined based on frequency and contextual framing, including cultural interaction, Chinese language promotion, Confucius Institute coverage, education diplomacy, and geopolitical alignment. Rising Nepal demonstrates a clear state-centric editorial stance, frequently articulating a supportive tone that emphasizes bilateral collaboration, strategic partnership, and mutual growth, thereby highlighting a significant contrast in representational patterns. This research argues that these contrasting frames signify underlying ideological and geopolitical affiliations, rather than merely editorial choices. This research contributes to the expanding body of literature on soft power, media and culture diplomacy, and the geopolitics of influence in South Asia by integrating media framing theory with qualitative analysis.

In recent years, social media platform has been proven to be an effective medium for China to conduct its public digital diplomacy. After China’s President Xi Jinping encouraged his diplomats to tell China’s story well for promoting China’s global influence, they are increasingly using social media as a tool of public digital diplomacy. In this regard, Chinese diplomats in Nepal are no exception and are actively using social media to disseminate information and interact with local people to advance China’s interests. However, there is a research gap regarding the pattern, content, popularity, and effectiveness of their social media practices in Nepal. This study aims to fulfil this research gap by examining Chinese diplomats’ public digital diplomacy practice in Nepal through the content analysis of their posts in X from the lens of Grunig’s four models of global PR theory. Through the explanatory sequential mixed content analysis method, this study provides practical insights into the effective digital engagement of China’s public diplomacy efforts in Nepal. This study finds that China’s digital diplomacy could be strengthened by localizing content to better align with Nepal’s socioeconomic context, thereby improving audience relevance and engagement. Nepali publics engage more with Nepal-related content.