Li Jiming, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, has said that China will not build any military base in Bangladesh or any other foreign land.
“China will not build any military facility or military base on any foreign territory, including in Bangladesh. China will not build anything militarily in any other country’s territory. That’s for sure,” he told reporters at a city hotel on Sunday.
The remarks came in response to queries by journalists about a report carried by NIKKEI ASIA titled "India wary of China setting up Bangladesh missile maintenance hub".
With China preparing to set up a maintenance facility in Bangladesh for surface-to-air missile systems it supplied in 2011, alarm bells are ringing in New Delhi, reads the report.
Ambassador Jiming said that he did not have any specific information about the media report and he would have to check it further.
The Embassy of China in Bangladesh hosted the in-person press conference titled "Spring Dialogue with China" at Pan Pacific Sonargaon moderated by Inam Ahmed, editor of the Business Standard.
The ambassador shared his thoughts on various issues including Bangladesh-China relations, Rohingya crisis, infrastructure, trade and investment, Quad, Indo-Pacific Strategy and Taiwan situation.
Russia-Ukraine War
Jiming said that China was not taking the side of Russia in the war against Ukraine, rather “Beijing wants a peaceful resolution to the issue through dialogue.”
He said that both Russia and Ukraine were Beijing’s friends.
Referring to Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen's statement over the Ukraine issue, the Chinese ambassador said that Bangladesh and China maintained similar positions regarding the Ukraine issue.
Rohingya crisis
The Chinese envoy said that China continued its efforts to facilitate an early repatriation of the Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine State.
"I think some progress has been made. But unfortunately, there is no significant officially organized repatriation yet,” he said, hoping to achieve the goal this year.
There had been some working mechanisms, he said, refusing to go into details until something concrete was achieved.
"So unfortunately, I can't give you more information about it. The only thing I can give you right now is that China is making all due efforts to help and to speed up the process of early repatriation,” said the envoy.
Bangladesh and its international partners are looking for “voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable” repatriation of the Rohingyas.
Quad and investment in Bangladesh
China believes that Bangladesh will not join the Quad alliance as the country has made it clear that it will not join any military alliance.
Though the US and its allies said that Quad is not against China, China sees it as a military alliance targeting them.
The Chinese ambassador hoped that Bangladesh would take a wise decision regarding joining such an alliance and referred to Bangladesh's foreign policy principles – friendship to all, malice to none.
Responding to a question, he said that China’s share in Bangladesh’s overseas loan portfolio was only around 5%. This is why the notion that Bangladesh might fall into Chinese debt trap was totally illogical, he explained.
The envoy said that Chinese investment in Bangladesh had increased by 300% and it would further increase after the beginning of the operation of the Chinese Economic Zone in Chittagong.
This zone awaits the government’s approval, and he hoped that very soon it would be approved.
Replying to a question, he said the Covid-19 pandemic and land acquisition were behind the delay in implementation of the China-funded projects in Bangladesh.
He also pointed out that the Chinese Belt and Road initiative had not lost momentum.
Responding to another question, the ambassador said that Bangladeshi students who study in China could soon be able to return to China under a special pilot project. “Only 10 countries are included in the pilot programme and Bangladesh is one of them,” he said.
Despite the pandemic, China did not halt issuing visas to the businessmen of Bangladesh, he mentioned.
More new projects
Jiming hinted that more China-supported projects would be implemented in Bangladesh.
"A lot of new projects are coming," he said, preferring not to announce anything before finalization.
For example, the ambassador said, another Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge project was under discussion and that it would be finalized soon. He added that it would be a gift from the Chinese government to the Bangladeshi people as the previous eight bridges.