China has urged Bangladesh to reject 'cold war mentality and bloc politics’, a year after publicly advising Bangladesh not to join the Quad alliance comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia.
Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, came up with the remarks in a meeting with Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman on Wednesday.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a press release on Thursday on the outcomes of the meeting.
"China believes that countries in the region, including Bangladesh, will bear in mind the fundamental interests of their own countries and the region, uphold independence, reject the cold war mentality and bloc politics," Liu Jinsong said.
The regional countries should safeguard true multilateralism and defend the hard-won environment for peace and development in the region, Liu told Zaman during their meeting.
During the meeting, Bangladesh's ambassador said, “Guided by the policy of "friendship to all, malice to none" put forward by Bangladesh's Founding Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh is committed to developing friendly relations with other countries and opposes bloc confrontation and a new Cold War.”
In May last year, China's Ambassador to Bangladeshi Li Jiming in Dhaka publicly advised Bangladesh not to join the Quad alliance.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had described the Chinese envoy’s comments as ‘very unfortunate’ and ‘aggressive’.
"We are an independent and sovereign State. We decide our foreign policy," Momen had said at the time. "We didn't expect such behaviour from China," he had said.
During the meeting on Wednesday, the Chinese officials said China will work with Bangladesh to uphold the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.
He also expressed eagerness to expand cooperation in fields such as post-COVID economic recovery, poverty alleviation, climate change, digital economy and green development, so as to deliver more benefits to the two countries and peoples.
