China has initiated genuine effort to find a durable solution to the Rohingya crisis through 'friendly negotiations and communications between Bangladesh and Myanmar', not to offer any 'quick fix'.
Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo reaffirmed his government's role as go-between for a comprehensive remedy for the problem while he was speaking at his maiden press conference on Wednesday in Dhaka. He touched upon a wide range of issues of bilateral interest, including another major one involving China's spurned bid for becoming Dhaka Stock Exchange's strategic partner with a 25 per cent buy of stakes.
The envoy said China is well aware of Bangladesh's concern over the ongoing Rohingya problem, which has burdened the country with around a million minority Muslim people tossed out of their homeland in Myanmar amid what is described as a pogrom.
Responding to a question on 'China's silence over the atrocities against Rohingyas by Myanmar army', the ambassador made it clear that China had not any personal interest in this issue and it treated both Bangladesh and Myanmar as close friends.
"What we want is a peaceful solution of this problem on the basis of mutual understanding between these two friendly neighbours," he said.
Terming poverty one of the root causes of this problem, he said China wants to help both the countries to achieve their desired economic development.
In this regard, he mentioned that during his visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh last November, the Chinese foreign minister rolled out a three-point plan to resolve the crisis, which was accepted by both the countries and they had agreed to start the repatriation process on the basis of that consensus.
Appreciating Bangladesh's humanitarian steps to provide shelter to over a million Rohingya refugees, he said China had pledged its full support to both sides to ensure a 'conducive environment' for a sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas.
However, the diplomat made it clear that none should expect a 'quick fix' for the Rohingya issue as it is a complicated one having historical, ethnical and religious elements.
He said China has provided assistance to Myanmar for building rehabilitation shelters for Rohingyas in Rakhine state.
Responding to a question regarding China's position on the next general election in Bangladesh, he said China expects a smooth election and it will always respect the choices made by the people of the Bangladesh.
"We hope that the next government would also work to foster the strategic partnership between the two countries which was built during the Dhaka visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping."
The press meet, held at the Chinese Embassy, was moderated by Chen Wei, political counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy, while Vera Hu, political Attache, acted as interpreter.
On the issue of huge trade imbalance between China and Bangladesh, the Ambassador said Beijing would like to maintain a balanced bilateral trade.
"We do not pursue the trade surplus intentionally. The reason for the imbalance lies in the differences between the industrial structure. We welcome Bangladesh enterprises take advantages of all platforms, such as China-South Asia Expo, the China Import and Export Fair, China International Import Expo etc. to promote trade with China."
China will also encourage more capable enterprises to invest in Bangladesh, and help in upgrading the manufacturing of Bangladesh. It is beneficial not only to decreasing the trade deficit but also to the balance of economic and trade cooperation as a whole, he added.
In this connection, the ambassador expressed China's willingness to help Bangladesh in realising its dream to build a prosperous Bangladesh. He said the government of Bangladesh put forward the development vision to become a middle-income country by 2021, and a developed country by 2041. The second development plans have high synchronisation. We should join hands to strive to realise both the 'Chinese dream' and the dream of 'Sonar Bangla'.
Ambassador Zhang pledged to try his best to promote Bangladesh-China relationship as he said, "As the new Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, I'm deeply aware of my honorable missions and heavy responsibilities. I will do my best to help implement the important consensus on cooperation reached by the leaders from the two countries, and to promote the development of China-Bangladesh strategic partnership in a better way."
In this context, he mentioned that the focus of their embassy this year is to continue to implement the results yielded by President Xi Jinping's historic visit. Since the beginning of 2018, China and Bangladesh have been maintaining frequent high-level exchanges.
"This year, China and Bangladesh will hold the 12th China-Bangladesh diplomatic consultation, the 2nd China-Bangladesh dialogue on maritime cooperation, joint working group meeting on China-Bangladesh free- trade agreement and the 1st round of China-Bangladesh consular consultation, among many other important bilateral events.
On the issue of security cooperation, Ambassador Zhang said the Chinese mission in Dhaka would continue to promote interactions between China and Bangladesh military in areas like high-level exchanges, visits between ships and submarines, joint exercises and personnel training so as to further upgrade military communication and defence cooperation.
"The Chinese embassy plans to step up the two countries' cooperation on counterterrorism and public security, including the implementing of China-Bangladesh memorandum of understanding on strengthening counterterrorism cooperation, establishing of relevant working mechanism, and deepening the communication between counterterrorism departments."
On the progress on bilateral-cooperation projects on economy and trade, Ambassador Zhang said under the joint efforts of the two governments and companies from the two countries, a group of cooperation projects are being implemented, including Padma Bridge railway link, multilane road tunnel under the Karnaphuli river, Dasherkandi sewage-treatment plant, procurement of oil tankers and bulk carriers, Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone, the installation of Single-Point Mooring with Double Pipe Line, the expansion and strengthening of Power System Network in DPDC Area, Payra Power Plant, the 8th China-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge and the International Exhibition Center, with a total investment of over US$10 billion.
"After their completion, these projects will improve the infrastructure, the trade and investment environment and people's livelihood, and play a positive role in the economic and social development of Bangladesh. They are also the concrete results and true manifestations of the synergy between Chinese dream and the dream of sonar bangla, which will help deepen C-B cooperation on economy and trade," he told the journalists.
Regarding the delay in implementation of some projects he reasoned that these had failed to meet their schedules in the construction process as there were complicated reasons.
Apprising the press of relaxation of Chinese visa policy for Bangladeshis he said China upholds positive attitude toward enhancing exchanges between the two peoples.
"We implement a flexible, practical visa policy for Bangladeshi citizens who want to go to China for the purposes of business and cultural exchange etc. In 2017, the embassy issued nearly 50 thousand copies of visa, increased by 22 per cent on year-on-year basis, to meet the demand of Bangladeshi side as far as possible."
He also highlighted the prospect of more arrival of Chinese tourists to Bangladesh as he said Bangladesh has abundant tourism resources. The ancient city of Bagerhat and the Bengal Tiger are well-known in China.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
