China-Bangladesh bilateral ties will be ‘substantially damaged’ if Bangladesh decides to join the US led security alliance Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) in any form, said Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming today (Monday).
The message was conveyed to the Bangladesh government by Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe during his recent visit to Dhaka, the Ambassador said.
He was responding to a question during a virtual interaction with the members of the Diplomatic Correspondent’s Association of Bangladesh (DCAB).
Mr Jiming said China sees Quad as an alliance against the country. It is a small club of 4, and we all know what it is for China- and that is why Japan has joined hands with the US, he said.
USA, Japan, Australia and India are the members of Quad, often termed by many as the Asian NATO.
‘We do not want any form of participation of Bangladesh in this alliance,” the Chinese Ambassador made it clear.
Earlier, Chinese officials said that the defence minister during his meeting with Bangladesh President put emphasis on the need for taking joint efforts by China and Bangladesh against the formation of a military alliance led by the United States for maintaining ‘hegemony’ in South Asia.
According to analysts, the first Quad summit held in March this year, was held to rejuvenate the grouping amid the growing influence of China in the region as the alliance was in hibernation since its inception in 2007.
Rohingya, Teesta
Responding to a question, the Chinese Ambassador said that China could not contact with the Myanmar government on the Rohingya repatriation issue as the situation in Myanmar is not normal now.
“We see no possibility of resuming the tri-patriate talks in near future,” the Ambassador said referring to the ongoing violent situation in Myanmar following the takeover of power by Myanmar military.
Responding to another question, Mr Jiming said that China will sincerely consider its engagement in Teesta River management project if the country gets feasibility study report on this project.
He added that Bangladesh government should conduct a study on the project first before sending the proposal.
