China’s attitude towards restoring democratic process in Bangladesh ‘extremely positive’: Mirza Fakhrul
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that China's has a positive attitude towards restoring the democratic process in Bangladesh. He made this remark in the afternoon today, Monday, at a press briefing held at the BNP chairperson's office in Gulshan of the capital. The briefing was held to inform the media about the party's recent China trip.
Journalists at the meeting raised the matter of China's support for the last three elections taken during the Awami League rule. When asked about China's present attitude about restoring the democratic process in Bangladesh, Mirza Fakhrul said he saw this as "very positive".
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that during the five-day visit, meetings were held with important Chinese dignitaries. He stated that in a bilateral meeting with Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, BNP firmly reiterated its party’s stance in support of the ‘One China Policy’. At the same time, BNP expressed its appreciation of China’s remarkable development under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, its global economic growth and the positive aspects of his ‘Belt and Road Initiative’.
At the meeting, Li Hongzhong extended an invitation to BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman to visit China, Mirza Fakhrul said. He also mentioned that China expressed optimism about initiating new engagements with an elected government in Bangladesh in the near future.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir stated that, while acknowledging China’s contribution to Bangladesh’s infrastructural development, BNP urged for greater Chinese involvement in areas such as digital technology, semiconductors, renewable energy, medical and healthcare services, higher education, communications, modern agricultural technology, SME businesses, and the transfer of advanced technologies in the blue economy. China conveyed a positive attitude.
Fakhrul further said, “Given the economic damage caused by the detrimental political reality of the past 17 years, we sought assistance from China in extending loan repayment periods, reconsidering various fees, and exploring the possibility of grants. They assured us they would duly consider these matters.”
The BNP secretary general also said that they called upon China to play a greater and more effective role in ensuring the safe, voluntary, and dignified repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
On the second day of the visit, during a meeting with Chinese vice foreign minister Sun Weidong, calls were made for enhanced cooperation from China in Bangladesh’s infrastructure, environmental, and technological development. They also raised issues of labour capacity, a favourable investment climate and the security for investments in Bangladesh.
Mirza Fakhrul noted that discussions also included the construction of the Bangladesh-China Friendship Hospital, taking practical steps to improve storage and export opportunities for agricultural products from northern Bangladesh, easing access to medical treatment for Bangladeshi patients in four specialised hospitals in Kunming, and establishing international overland connectivity between China and Bangladesh.
He added that BNP has positively received the proposal from the Communist Party of China to sign a two-year political memorandum of understanding.
The BNP delegation, led by Mirza Fakhrul, recently visited China at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party. The team included BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Selima Rahman, members of the chairperson’s advisory council Ismail Zabihullah, Professor Sukomal Barua and Zahid Uddin Swapan, convener of the media cell Moudud Hossain Alamgir Pavel, and the chairperson’s private secretary ABM Abdus Sattar. They were all present at today’s press conference.