About a decade before the liberation war of Bangladesh beginning in early 1971, the People’s Republic of China became an ally of Pakistan following its declared war with India in October 1962, and Beijing began using Islamabad as a conduit for rapprochement with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger of the USA. Earlier China also supported Pakistan during the latter’s war with India in 1965. In 1971, it got membership of the United Nations replacing Taiwan, and it also used its first veto at the UN to support Pakistan in the Indo- Pakistan war of 1971. On the other hand, at the time of Independence Bangladesh was close to the USSR, a country rival of China’s, and it was considered a nation of the Indo- Soviet fold, Beijing vetoed Bangladesh’s entry in the United Nations till 1974. But it all changed with the military coup in Bangladesh and the new regime kept itself aloof from the Indo-Soviet axis of Cold War in South Asia. The new military ruler-cum- President of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman, fitted in the Sino-Pak fold and diplomatic relations between the two established in 1976 and in the succeeding years frequent high-level exchange of visits took place and the groundwork for strengthening their relationship was made. In the coming years and decades their relations expanded to economic and military relations, culminating ultimately in a strategic relationship.
Establishment of diplomatic relations between the two in 1976 consolidated and enhanced China-Bangladesh relations and served the fundamental interests of both countries, meeting the common aspirations of their people conducive to peace development in the region and the globe. It paved the way for the exchange of high-level visits between government agencies, parliamentarians, political parties, armed forces, and non-governmental groups from both sides which also included various trade committees, diplomatic consultations and joint agriculture committees. Over the years, especially after the disintegration of the USSR in the early 1990s and ending of its superpower status, China became active and after a reasonable time gap began to stake a claim for great-power status in the region and beyond.
Its main global rival remained the USA while at the regional level India was its target also, because in the last three decades New Delhi has developed as a dependable partner of the USA in the region, particularly in South Asia.
By saying Bangladesh is adopting a diplomatic line with the guiding principle of its Constitution which says,’ Friendship towards all, malice towards none’, but in trying to implement this the country has heavily leaned to Beijing which, in practice has meant greater dependence on China and the economic and defence understandings that were reached between the two countries, soon transformed into a strategic partnership. Even the present Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, wants to take maximum advantage of the country’s geographical position which abuts the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean linking China with the Persian Gulf, which has a role in securing the energy supply for Beijing. This vision and approach have put Bangladesh in a ‘win-win’ situation, bypassing all odds of the present and past.
As a result, for China Bangladesh became more important due to its geographical location. With the polarisation of countries at regional and global levels, Beijing came forward with a number of major and minor developmental projects suited to small and medium-grade countries with poor infrastructure, to win their goodwill and make them aligned with China. As a first step to narrow down the trade gap, China not only provided economic aid to Bangladesh but also signed the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) to remove the barriers and offered resources to develop natural gas and nuclear power plants to meet the growing energy requirements, while Bangladesh, in return, offered to set up a Special Economic Zone for China. In addition, the two agreements, the Agreement on Economic and Technical Co-operation and a framework agreement on a concessional loan provided by China to Bangladesh, proved very helpful for the country.
Particularly in the last one decade the different angles of China- Bangladesh understandings reached a new height and as a result, the two countries signed a bilateral trade and investment agreement to give Bangladesh duty-free access for 97 percent of its products, which came into force from 1 July 2020. Earlier too, according to the notice of the Tariff Commission of the State Council of China on 16 June 2016, in which zero-tariff facility has been applied to 8,256 products originating from Bangladesh.
However, despite these facilities the China- Bangladesh bilateral trade is highly tilted in favour of Beijing and latter’s bilateral trade deficit with China has increased 1600 percent in the last 20 years. In 2018-19, 25 percent of Bangladesh’s total imports were from China, worth $13.6 billion, while Bangladesh’s export to China was only $0.56 billion. Apart from this, there are several loans given to Bangladesh on less favourable terms in comparison to India and this could lead Bangladesh into a debt-trap.
Likewise, in the defence sphere the Bangladesh Army has been equipped with Chinese tanks, its navy has Chinese fighters and missiles and the Bangladesh Air Force flies Chinese fighter jets. Between 2002 and 2006, several defence cooperation agreements were signed which cover military training and defence material, and as revealed in a Chinese report to the UN, Dhaka is emerging as a major buyer of Chinese-made weapons. In a further move, in 2008 Bangladesh set up an anti-ship missile launch pad near the Chittagong Port with Chinese assistance and a maiden missile test was performed on 12 May 2008 with the help of Chinese experts.
Like India alike, Bangladesh also has a ‘Look East Policy’ which has been specially designed to lessen the country’s dependence on India and open up new avenues of co-operation with China and South-East Asia. In fact, many areas encompassing South Asian states and its maritime spaces are of growing strategic importance to China, and Beijing’s involvement in bilateral relationships appear beneficial, but actually they are driven by deep and long-term Chinese designs to fulfil its political, economic and strategic interests.
By saying Bangladesh is adopting a diplomatic line with the guiding principle of its Constitution which says,’ Friendship towards all, malice towards none’, but in trying to implement this the country has heavily leaned to Beijing which, in practice has meant greater dependence on China and the economic and defence understandings that were reached between the two countries, soon transformed into a strategic partnership. Even the present Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, wants to take maximum advantage of the country’s geographical position which abuts the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean linking China with the Persian Gulf, which has a role in securing the energy supply for Beijing. This vision and approach have put Bangladesh in a ‘win-win’ situation, bypassing all odds of the present and past.
