Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has concluded her visit to Beijing. She had a couple of targets in mind when visiting the second-largest economy in the world. The important targets were to secure a $5 billion loan as economic assistance and to seek Chinese help to develop the southern part of the country.
The 27-point joint statement, declared after the visit, included the Southern Integrated Development Initiative, but there was no commitment about the loan package from the Chinese side. Even one billion yuan (Tk1600 crore) of economic assistance declared by the Chinese side was not incorporated in the joint statement. So many are talking about the negative balance of the visit as far as what was expected and what we got. But former diplomats asserted that it would be a grave mistake if somebody wanted to brand a visit as a success or failure by considering only how much money Bangladesh gets.
Dhaka and Beijing started negotiations for quite some time to strike a deal on $5 billion, and there was an expectation to reach an agreement during the visit. But Beijing only declared assistance worth 100 billion yuan. Former diplomats were of the view that it is very unlikely that in one visit “everything will happen” or “will get everything”. They felt that intense negotiation was needed to conclude the deal.
Former foreign secretary Md Shahidul Haque said: “One should not consider a visit failed or successful only by assessing how much money the country gets. Many political and other factors need to be taken into consideration.”
About the loan deal, he said: “Probably expectation was high as so much was told from the government side before the visit. As there was no commitment, I believe we need to have intense negotiations with China.”
Former Bangladesh Ambassador to China Munshi Faiz Ahmed said: “Any loan deal is concluded through negotiation. It is not that one party asks for money and the other party agrees to give it.”
China, Bangladesh elevate ties: What does it mean?
He said: “Beijing has conveyed that they would assist and send a technical team to discuss the issue. They have already informed us that they will provide grant, interest-free, concessional and commercial loans to Bangladesh. Now we have to negotiate what would be the interest rate, repayment period and other conditions.”
It is mentionable that after the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Beijing on July 10, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud at a press briefing said that the Chinese president categorically said they would provide a loan package comprised of grants, interest-free, concessional and commercial credits. The technical committees of the two countries would finalise the deal.
Bangladesh, China agree to deepen BRI cooperationTaiwan issue
There have been three summit-level visits between Bangladesh and China in the last 10 years. Prime Minister Hasina visited China in 2014 and 2019, while Chinese President Xi visited Dhaka in 2016. Bangladesh supports the “One China policy”, and it was stated in the joint statements issued after the three visits.
But, this time, it is different, as the joint statement stated that the “two sides stressed that the authority of the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 is beyond question and brooks no challenge. 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.”
It is considered a political gain for China.
How China can help with repatriationFormer Ambassador Munshi Faiz said: “The word ‘Taiwan’ was used in some documents, but in some documents, it was not mentioned. It is nothing new.”
Global Development Initiative
President Xi has launched three global initiatives: Global Development Initiatives, Global Security Initiatives and Global Civilisation Initiatives. During the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Dhaka in 2022, he informed the Bangladeshi side about GDI and not about GSI, as Dhaka was reluctant to discuss security initiatives. But in the statement, all three initiatives were mentioned.
Former Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said: “China is trying to popularase the initiatives and that’s why it wanted to include the three issues in the joint statement.”
