The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) president has joined BNP leaders to praise China’s growth and its role in Bangladesh.
Mujahidul Islam Selim said on Friday that China had become “indispensable” for Bangladesh to maintain its “independence, sovereignty, and progress” in the emerging geo-political context.
He was speaking at the Bangladesh Cultural Academy Foundation, a pro-BNP organisation, organised seminar on the rise of China and Sino-Bangla relations.
BNP leaders were joined by intellectuals and activists loyal to them at the seminar and highly praised China’s economic growth.
They urged the Asian power to play more assertive role in global politics and lashed out at India for ‘joining the US in a conspiracy of containment against China”.
A former adviser to the caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan was chief guest at the seminar, marking the 65th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and 39th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China.
He, however, stressed on good relations with both India and China.
BNP standing committee member and former army chief Mahbubur Rahman chaired the seminar as the chief of the Foundation.
Rahman who called China his “second home” also served as the defence attaché of Bangladesh’s Beijing mission during his military career.
A number of officials of the Chinese embassy were also present at the seminar in a Dhaka hotel.
China celebrates the founding day on Oct 1 when the People’s Republic of China was born in 1949.
Since the founding of new China in 1949 and particularly after the reforms which led to opening up of the economy, Beijing has created an economic miracle by maintaining 10 percent annual economic growth rate for the last three decades.
On Thursday, IMF said China has surpassed the US and has become the number one economic power.
CPB President Selim cited “two dimensions” of maintaining friendly relations with China.
He said the relations with China should “not be a matter of convenience, but a matter of principle”.
He said the relation with “great China” was a must to ensure cultural, economic and social progresses.
The other dimension he mentioned was to ‘save Bangladesh’ from the global politics of “containment of China”.
Bangladesh must have good relations with China “if we want to be spared of this conspiracy”, he said.
According to him, the US had shifted its strategy to Asia-Pacific for “containment of China”.
Selim said the US was also pressuring Bangladesh to have its strong military presence in the Bay of Bengal as part of its conspiracy to “encircle China”.
The left leader said India had already joined the US in this regard.
He also called upon all to build “strong public opinion” in Bangladesh in favour of China.
BNP vice-chairman Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf was described as a “friend of China” when his name was announced for the speech.
He said China’s rise was a “miracle”.
“But it should be a number one military power for the global balancing and to bring peace to the world.
“Globally it should play role in the years to come.”
He said Bangladesh suffered from a “big neighbourly syndrome” as it has “very big neighbour India”.
“To balance, we need China,” he said, “not only economically, but also militarily.”
The BNP is known for its anti-India stance.
But the opposition party was apparently frustrated when China backed the Jan 5 elections that it boycotted.
The discussants at the seminar were told not to discuss internal politics while speaking about China’s rise and growth.
But Barrister Tuhin Malik who is known as BNP loyalist could not resist himself.
“China’s position on Jan 5 elections has created doubts among public,” he said.
“Have you really shifted your position (supporting all parties) on what we have seen in Jan 5 elections?” he asked.
Immediately after his speech, the organisers made it clear the Foundation is not a political organisation. “Please do not speak about politics”.
Retired Lt Col Latif Khan who is the sports secretary of BNP said: “If China stays with us, I think we don’t need any other friends.”
“China’s friendship is always friendship,” he said.
China is a great power, he said urging Beijing to take initiatives with the UN help establish peace in the Middle-East.
Journalist Sadeq Khan said no civilisation except China had risen peacefully.
Professor of the Department of Government and Politics of the Jahangirnagar University Dilara Chowdhury said BNP founder Ziaur Rahman diversified the foreign policy of Bangladesh and since then the relations with China had been growing “strength to strength”.
She termed China’s contribution in Bangladesh “remarkable”.
She also warned that Bangladesh had to be “very careful with the new game of containing China”.
“There is a power in this region which has joined with the US to contain China,” she said indicating India.
She asked Bangladesh to accommodate China’s security interest that she said “was possible without annoying India”.
Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, said: “China has friends all around them and against India , it would never be in a difficult position.”
He mentioned Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka as its friends and said increasing more friends around them “China would be an unassailable big power”.
The former adviser Akbar Ali Khan, however, said Bangladesh must maintain good relations with both India and China for its own interest.
“But we should be very careful,” he said, “We have to judge our interest.”
For example, he said when it came to connectivity Bangladesh should be careful that the connectivity did not end up by connecting one part of India with the other part, indicating north-east India.
“It should be people-to-people connectivity,” he said.
Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese embassy in Dhaka Qu Guangzhou said China valued South Asia.
He said China was proud of its economic growth but not complacent.
“We are a developing country and we stand together with our friend Bangladesh,” he said.
China established diplomatic relations with Bangladesh in 1975. Next year, both countries would jointly celebrate the 40 years of bonhomie with year-long events.
The two-way trade between two countries had crossed $10 billion in 2013.
He said during his just-concluded visit to India, the Chinese President announced that in the next five years China would invest up to $30 billion and provide concessional loans of $20 billion to South Asia.
He said China was also ready to finance 25,000 people from this region with scholarships, trainings and many other ways.
“As an important member of South Asia, Bangladesh will surely benefit from those initiatives,” he said.
The BNP leader Mahbubur Rahman sought China’s support in Bangladesh’s development and said that “we are all-weather friends”.
Source: Bd news24