Bangladesh-China relations to reach a new height with PM’s upcoming Beijing tour: CPC minister
The diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China saw a significant qualitative rise during China president Xi Jinping's official visit to Bangladesh in October 2016, said Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
“Prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to Beijing too will mark an exceptional rise in the relations between the two countries,” he underscored.
The CPC minister made the remarks while addressing a seminar organised by the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka on the future of the relations between the two countries at a Dhaka hotel Tuesday morning.
Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen was the moderator of the seminar.
Leaders of the governing Awami League, de facto opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and several allies of the 14-party alliance, business leaders, former diplomats and international analysts joined the seminar.
Liu Jianchao said, “The relations between the two countries gradually grew over time. It reached the strategic level of development cooperation through the historic visit of president Xi Jinping in 2016. We are looking forward to prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming state visit to China. It will be her fifth visit to China as the prime minister and the two leaders met each time.”
The senior CPC minister said the diplomatic ties between the two countries reached a new height following the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.
Referring to the meeting between the two top leaders on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit held in South Africa last year, he said they agreed on implementing high standard projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Bangladesh is the first among the south Asian countries to ink the MoU under the BRI.
He further said, “A total of 14 infrastructural projects have been implemented or are underway under the BRI structure, including the Padma Bridge Rail Link project, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel and the Dasherkandi sewerage project. These projects have further strengthened the cooperation between the two countries.”
The senior CPC minister said the diplomatic ties between the two countries reached a new height following the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. China is always committed to be a part of Bangladesh’s journey towards the path of development as an alternative partner.
Speaking regarding the CPC Congress held in July last year, he said they were stressing on strengthening relations with the political parties in allied countries.
“We follow three policies to strengthen relations with the political parties. First, we don’t prioritise the ideological aspects of political parties. As a result, China has friends across the world. Second, we don’t consider whether the party is at the helm or not to establish diplomatic relations with it. Third, we focus on common ground respecting each other’s consent to reach a consensus with any political party.”
Addressing the seminar, the leader of the opposition in parliament and Jatiya Party (JaPa) chairman GM Quader said, “Once there was a proposal to shift some Chinese factories, which are dependent on unskilled or semi-skilled workers. China could reconsider the proposal to enhance business between the two countries. Besides, China also can play an active role to persuade Myanmar for Rohingya repatriation. The Rohingya crisis has become a huge burden for Bangladesh now.”
Awami League international relations affairs secretary Shammi Ahmed said the Bangladesh-China relationships grew a lot in the recent years. Politically, the cooperation between the CPC and the AL is growing gradually. Awami League is the only party to sign a MoU with the Communist Party of China.
A delegation of young Awami League leaders recently visited China. Another delegation of senior Awami League leaders are scheduled to visit China in the coming days.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, international relations analyst professor Imtiaz Ahmed said, “China has the scope to work on some specific projects in major sectors such as health and education. Such projects will help continue the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the long run. In this case, a pilot project can be taken up by linking up 10 schools of Bangladesh with 10 Chinese schools. For the health sector, such pilot projects can be taken up with 10 integrated health organisations. But we have to ensure that the health agencies to be brought under these projects are not from Dhaka only.
Among the others, JSD president Hasanul Haq Inu, BNP leader air vice-marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, FBCCI vice-president Shomi Kaiser, UNB chief editor Enayetullah Khan and ex-diplomat Sabbir Ahmed Chowdhury also addressed the seminar.