Bangladesh Adheres to “One China Policy”
DHAKA, Jan. 27 (NsNewsWire) — Bangladesh strongly adheres to the “One China Policy,” Bangladeshi state minister for foreign affairs said Tuesday, reports Xinhua.
“We share with China the vision for maintaining peace and stability in the region. We work together in times of natural disasters and other difficulties in the spirit of humanitarianism and friendship,” said Md Shahriar Alam, Bangladeshi state minister for Foreign Affairs, while speaking at a seminar on Tuesday in capital Dhaka.
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organized the seminar titled “Bangladesh-China relations: 40 years of partnership”, bringing together former ambassadors of Bangladesh, who had served in Beijing, and those of China who served in Dhaka.
Alam said Sino-Bangladesh bilateral relations have entered into a new dimension after Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in June and President Abdul Hamid in December last year visited China respectively.
“The exchange of visits continued with several high profile visits already taking place between our two countries last year and we expect that there would be more visits of higher profiles this year. Let this year be the year we reaffirm and further intensify the existing closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation between our two countries.”
“We strongly believe that Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC), the Belt and Road initiative and the other measures of regional connectivity initiative will positively change the socio-economic scenario of not only our two peoples but of all the peoples of this region,” said Alam.
Alam said, as a member of the AIIB, “We look forward to working closely with China and our other friendly partners in development for creating a sustainable financial future for all of us in the region and beyond.”
It is indeed a privilege to be here today to commemorate the 40th year of celebrating the partnership between Bangladesh and China, he said, adding “I take this opportunity to thank the government of the People’s Republic of China and all our friends from China, those present here as well as those who are not, for their continued support for and contribution to further promoting Bangladesh-China friendship and cooperation.”
The relationship between China and Bangladesh is founded in the communion of civilizations that we shared in the world, said Alam.
For centuries, he said traders, scholars and spiritual masters from the two countries have traveled each other.
“Our two nations have shared ideas and wisdom in science, arts and aesthetics. This long journey of friendship has been enriched by contributions of luminaries such as Fa Xian, Xuan Zang, Ahcarya Atish Dipankar and Admiral Zheng He. In the recent past, two great leaders, the founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Premier Zhou En Lai significantly contributed to this historic journey of friendship through exchange of visits.”
A new dimension of the two country’s long relations of friendship emerged when China and the newly independent Bangladesh established diplomatic relations in 1975, mentioned the Bangladeshi state minister.
He said the relations between Bangladesh and China are based on the principles of sovereign equality, peaceful co-existence, mutual trust and respect for each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.
“China’s unwavering commitment to our socio-economic development has time and again been substantiated by her continued efforts to assist Bangladesh in fulfilling the legitimate wishes and desires of her people.”
“On our part, Bangladesh has consistently supported China on the issues of her core national interests.”
In the trade front, China is Bangladesh’s largest source of import and the bilateral trade is increasing in leaps and bounds.
“We are working closely on creating two Special Economic Zones wherein we expect to create mutual leverage points in investment and employment for securing exponential growth in both labor-intensive and technology-intensive commercial ventures.”
The “Vision 2021”, envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, pledges to transform the country into a middle-income country by the year 2021.
“With China being the largest and fastest growing economy, and also being a role model for us we would like to learn from the Chinese experience and short-circuit our growth trajectory to catapult into a higher paradigm. As has been stated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we target to become a Developed Country by the year 2041.”
Speaking at the seminar, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang recalled the “sound development” of bilateral relations, and appreciated the “efforts” made by former ambassadors to advance the cooperation.
Former Chinese ambassadors in Dhaka Wang Chungui, Hu Qianwen, Chai Xi and Zheng Qingdian were, among others, present in the seminar.
Former Bangladesh ambassador to China Munshi Faiz Ahmad, chairman of the BIISS, presided over the seminar.