Several senior politicians of the country have urged the recently appointed Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka, Zhang Zuo to use his good offices to draw his government's attention for addressing the Rohingya problem.
They also said the situation may worsen unless necessary steps are taken in time, as living condition in the Rohingya camps may severely deteriorate during the rainy season.
They made the request at a welcome reception arranged in honour of the ambassador at a city hotel on Tuesday evening, organised by Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (M-L).
Rashed Khan Menon, social welfare minister, Hasanul Hoque Inu, information minister, Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Presidium member of Awami League and former food minister, and Dilip Barua, General Secretary of Samyabadi Dal, spoke on the occasion, among others.
In his speech, Rashed Khan Menon said Bangladesh and China are two friendly nations, who have been maintaining good diplomatic ties for a long period.
"At present China has become the major development partner of Bangladesh by providing support to several mega projects in recent times," he said.
Amid remarkable progress in numerous sectors, the country is facing several challenges like the Rohingya issue.
"I would like to draw the attention of you (Chinese Ambassador) to the issue of Rohingya," he said, adding that the situation in Rohingya camps will worsen during the coming rainy season as the camp areas are prone to frequent landslides.
"I hope Chinese government will extend their support in this regard," he said.
Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said Bangladesh has been providing humanitarian support to nearly one million Rohingya people despite the country's limited resources.
To tackle the situation, Chinese government may extend its support to Bangladesh as they have been a good friend of Bangladesh for a long time, he said.
"I sincerely hope that the new Chinese ambassador in Bangladesh will contact his government to resolve the (Rohingya) problem," he said.
Addressing the ceremony, Zhang Zuo lauded Bangladesh's economic development in recent years.
"I think, Bangladesh's journey to become a developing country following its graduation from the least developed Country (LDC) has been a remarkable one," he said.
Mentioning the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to China in 2014 and Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to Bangladesh in 2016, he said he would put his best effort to fulfil the agreements signed during those visits.
The Ambassador began his tenure in Dhaka during mid-February this year.
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