China focuses on political relations, future

China has been focussing hard on strengthening relations with the Bangladesh government in the political sphere for almost a decade.

This closeness is increasing in twofold - through visits and interactions with top political leadership as well as the ruling party delegations.

The joint declaration issued Thursday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent visit to Beijing also reflects the interests of deepening the political relations.

The way political cooperation, alongside bilateral relations, between the two countries in the international arena came up this time actually has never been mentioned in the past, especially since 2010.

For the first time, the two sides have agreed on the issues of democracy, development, geopolitics, and others, especially regarding Taiwan as a part of China. In particular, articles 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the 27-point joint statement encapsulated the political transition of relations, democracy and development, Taiwan issue and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and geopolitics.

According to analysts, China has succeeded in including in this joint declaration the Taiwan issue keeping the future in mind. Likewise, it has reflected its own perceptions in terms of financing investment and development projects considering the stable political situation in Bangladesh.

The question remains, how well did Bangladesh think before agreeing to include such perceptions of China in the joint statement.

Article 5 of the joint statement states, “The Chinese side firmly supports Bangladesh in maintaining peace and stability, realising development goals as envisioned under Vision 2041, non-interference in its internal affairs, and independently choosing a development path suited to its national conditions.”

The same article also talked about the Taiwan issue. It states, “Bangladesh reiterated its firm commitment to the one-China principle and its position that the Government of the People’s Republic of China represents the whole of China, and Taiwan is part of China, and Bangladesh supports China on issues pertaining to China’s core interests and China’s efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Diplomatic analysts say, there is a reflection of perception in the joint statement that China’s one-party governance system gets priority as a favourable system for Bangladesh’s national development.

Besides, the country has ensured Dhaka’s support in the international arena in future by getting Bangladesh’s support to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity including Taiwan.

Former and current diplomats say that usually the host country prepares the first draft of the joint statement. Then it is finalised after both sides agree on additions and subtractions.

In most cases, arguments of the stronger sides prevail. Again the host country has some advantages. If one looks at the elevation of bilateral relations to “partnership” taking this context into consideration, many think this change has come through the visit of President Xi Jinping in Bangladesh in October 2016.

But actually, China first mentioned the transition of relations to a partnership in a statement issued at the end of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s bilateral visit in 2010. And officially this transition took place. As a result, China drafted the joint statement taking into account the bilateral and international context in the political arena. Finally, Bangladesh also agreed.

An analysis of the joint statement reveals, the issue of democracy remains absent while referring to the internal situation of Bangladesh in the Article 5. But the issues of democracy and democratic values ​​have come in Articles 20 and 23.

There is ostensibly no harm in absence of internal democratic practices; rather development is everything. However, human rights, including democracy, civil and political rights, must be upheld as a whole in the international arena.

The question is, what is the reason for such conflicting positions on democratic values?

China’s massive project centering the Teesta River has been under discussion for several years. But the discussions on China’s proposal stalled months before India showed its interest in the Teesta project last month.

Diplomatic sources also said that the Teesta issue was not raised in the official meeting during this visit. But Article 11 of the joint declaration states that “The two sides agreed to enhance cooperation in such fields as agriculture, meteorology, water management and ecological protection.”

At the same time, in addition to the commitment to increase cooperation between the two countries in integrated water management, China has also assured to encourage Chinese investors in Bangladesh’s water resources sector.