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China, Bangladesh reaffirm ties as territorial, economic issues escalate in region
BEIJING (AP) — China and Bangladesh are reaffirming their ties during a visit by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Beijing on Wednesday, as tensions rise in the region over territorial and resource disputes.
China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Huning, a member of China’s Politburo Standing Committee who met Hasina, as saying that “China and Bangladesh respected and treated each other equally, setting a good example of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries.”
Xinhua reported that Hasina later met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and “upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.” No details were given, but the designation of relations usually involves closer economic ties, largely financed by Chinese policy banks.
Bangladesh occupies a strategic position between Myanmar, a former Chinese ally now wracked by internal conflicts, and India, the rising Asian giant with which China has a long-standing border conflict.
Hasina met her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang on Wednesday and oversaw the signing of 28 bilateral agreements mainly covering trade and investment.
While Bangladesh maintains development partnerships with the United States and India, it is also moving closer to China, which is heavily involved in the country’s major infrastructure projects.
Hasina is eager to strengthen relations to encourage Chinese investment in her country’s economy, which is struggling under a heavy debt burden. China also supplies Bangladesh with tanks, missile launchers and other weapons and is building seaports, railway tracks, power plants and bridges. The United States remains Bangladesh’s largest source of foreign direct investment.
Hasina’s visit to China comes a few weeks after her visit to India, demonstrating her plans for partnership with both neighbors in the face of growing US interest in the Indo-Pacific region.
While the US and European countries have pressured Hasina’s administration to hold free and fair elections in January, China has openly supported Hasina. China has also shown a willingness to help Bangladesh’s economy, which is struggling with declining foreign exchange reserves.
Media reports in Bangladesh say the country will seek $20 billion in new loans from China during Hasina’s visit.
Concerns have been raised over tensions on China’s border with India, Chinese military expansion in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, fighting in neighboring Myanmar and Beijing’s control over water resources in the Himalayas, which affects agriculture in Bangladesh and neighboring countries.
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Associated Press writer Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, contributed to this report.