As an year of her impugned return to power by largely uncontested and mostly voterless January 5 election boycotted by the mainstream Opposition came to a close, Sheikh Hasina Wajed as the Head of her “consensus government” representing all of the 10th parliament made a firm, if somewhat offhand statement about a fundamental shift in the development paradigm of Bangladesh. She said her government is inclined to strengthen strategic ties with China, and will follow the economic giant as its development model.

She made the statement when the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on her on 28 December 2014, her Press Secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury told reporters that evening. Chowdhury quoted Sheikh Hasina as telling Wang: “Bangladesh will follow China as the development model. China’s development means development of Asia.” The Chinese foreign minister was quoted as telling the prime minister that Bangladesh can play a vital role in the establishment of peace and order and in development and act as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia. He pointed to Bangladesh’s geographical position as its ‘big strength’ and promised that Beijing would support Dhaka in its hour of need.

Rhetoric and diplomatic retort?
Murmurs are there in the civil society wondering whether this was a considered policy statement by the Head of Government in Bangladesh or the rhetoric of a wilful diplomatic retort to her critics in the Western capitals and the world media. Her previous grand alliance government was stung by the withdrawal of the World Bank from the Padma Bridge project on the express ground of her inaction against attempted high level corruption in project-implementation. Her present consensus government is also haunted by continuing disaffection in Europe and America over questions of validity of January 5 polls and of violation of human rights under the cross-fire culture of the regime. Sceptics suggest that her new-found devotion to Chinese model of development is but her ploy to divert public attention from the dire mismanagement of the economy by her inept finance minister and economic advisers, collectively humouring heartless share market, huge bank loan defaulters, and nouveau riche second home-owners in Malaysia, Dubai or Canada scooping out cream of national resources to foreign bank deposits. Public disaffection with the police raj and protection rackets of crime and undue penalties, both individual and collective, superimposed by the regime has also reached a boiling point, as have murderous inner-party conflicts in the rank and file of the ruling alliance over positions and booties, all requiring a diversionary message.

Be that as it may, sober analysts suggest that the Prime Minister’s aforesaid remarks are but a recognition of an internal development dynamics that the economic infrastructure of Bangladesh has already assumed under the benign impact of China’s neighbourhood policy of inclusive growth and peaceful rise. That acknowledgment was more elaborately presented to the press by the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh after the official bilateral meeting led by the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali at the foreign ministry of Bangladesh.

FTA, infrastructures on card
Emerging from the China-Bangladesh bilateral talks, Secretary M Shahidul Haque told journalists that China has responded positively to a Bangladeshi proposal to build road connectivity from Chittagong to Kunming via Cox’s Bazar and Myanmar. This route will be separate from the proposed BCIM economic corridor, the process of which is already underway officially between the governments of China, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

China had proposed to begin negotiations for free-trade agreement (FTA) between Bangladesh and China as a South Asian step towards Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area endorsed by global leaders present in the APEC summit in Beijing last November. The two-way trade between Bangladesh and China has crossed $10 billion mark.

Two-way trade, agricultural as well as industrial cooperation, energy cooperation and physical infrastructure were the highlights of the bilateral meeting. China is already assisting Bangladesh on a number of physical infrastructure projects in road communication, bridges, power, and port facilities. Beijing has made billions of dollars of investment promise in South Asian countries after its third version of reforms last year. It shares border with all SAARC countries except Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The Chittagong Kunming road-link would close that physical gap between the borders of China and Bangladesh. Beijing also established its own version of the World Bank, Infrastructure Development Bank, in which Bangladesh joined as a founding member.

China set an import target of $10 trillion and outbound investment of $500 billion for the next five years, of which the Chinese embassy here is supporting Bangladesh “to have a proper share.” In the bilateral meeting at Bangladesh foreign office, the matter of a special economic zone for Chinese investments to facilitate production geared to exports for the Chinese market came up. The foreign secretary told journalists the Chinese expressed their “satisfaction” about the overall progress of the special economic zone and hoped that a “solid” output would emerge next year when both sides would celebrate the milestone of 40 years of diplomatic relations.

Ctg. to Kunming via Myanmar
Secretary Haque said Bangladesh had proposed both road and rail links from Chittagong to Kunming. China responded positively particularly regarding the road link, and Bangladesh proposed holding tri-lateral talks involving Myanmar to this end. China agreed it was “a good proposal”, and reiterated China’s willingness to finance the construction of the proposed deep-sea port in Bangladesh, when the issue came up in the “context of broader connectivity”. Bangladesh side said “we are still examining all proposals”.

Foreign Secretary Haque said China believed BCIM would play complementary role in China’s dream economic belt and 21st century Maritime Silk Road. Indeed the Chittagong-Kunming link road and Sonadia deep-sea port connectivity may directly embrace Bangladesh into the one-Belt one Road map of Asian growth charted out by China.

(Holiday)