Staff Reporter :
The recently concluded visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to China has garnered extensive coverage in both Chinese and Indian media, offering contrasting perspectives on its outcomes.
According to reports from Chinese media outlets like the Global Times, the visit has been portrayed as significantly elevating bilateral ties between China and Bangladesh.
The Global Times highlighted that both nations have upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, emphasizing cooperation and friendship as key themes.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks underscored China’s commitment to deepening cooperation under initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with plans to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations by enhancing collaboration across various sectors.
China’s investment in Bangladesh has reached almost $1.4 billion by the end of 2023 and the investment has been instrumental in establishing numerous Chinese-funded enterprises across the country, contributing significantly to the economy and creating over 550,000 jobs, according to a recent report.
The report also highlighted China’s financial assistance to Bangladesh over the years. Despite historical ties, China has provided only 115 crore yuan in grants to Bangladesh in more than a decade.
However, the relationship has been marked by substantial loan agreements. Over the past 12 years, Bangladesh has secured loans amounting to $7.25 billion from China, but in reality the country got only $3.86 billion.
In 2016, agreements were made for 34 projects amounting to $24 billion in loans, but the actual disbursement amounted to $5.61 billion, indicating the scale and scope of the financial commitments involved.
Notably, there have been no new loan agreements since March of last year, with only $361 million being disbursed in the past 11 months.
However, Indian media perspectives, as reflected in outlets such as News Network and the Economic Times, have been critical.
They suggested that despite high expectations, Prime Minister Hasina’s anticipated outcomes from the visit were not fully realized.
The Economic Times, in particular, reported her early departure from Beijing, supposedly due to her daughter’s illness, which has been a topic of discussion.
Prime Minister Hasina is scheduled to address these issues herself in a press conference at her official residence, Ganabhaban, on Sunday.
This will provide an opportunity for her to clarify the outcomes and significance of her visit, amidst varied interpretations and critiques from both Chinese and Indian media sources, each reflecting their own geopolitical interests in South Asia.
For Bangladesh, in the face of pressure from India, the development of China-Bangladesh relations also provides a valuable choice for Dhaka to better safeguard its diplomatic independence and development opportunities, Qian said.
On the other hand, India Media New Network stated that Hasina’s visit to China appears to fall short on both optics and substance with no major deliverables to show, despite the claims being made.
It also criticised that the meeting between Jin Jinping and Sheikh Hasina ‘lasted for barely 30 minutes’ and even ‘no minister from Chinese government called on her.’
Regarding economic issue, it reported that there has been ‘no significant agreement or MoUs’ for furthering the economic ties.
Mentioning some gains on exports of value-added products and fresh mangoes, the News Network reported that it is hardly a gain for Bangladesh as the balance of trade is in favour of China with USD 21 billion of its exports to Bangladesh against Bangladeshi exports of USD 680 million to China.
The report ended stating that there was media hype regarding the China visit but it does not match ‘real gains.’
Meanwhile, the Economic Times has reported that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ‘upset’ over Beijing’s failure to fulfill its promises of financial support.
The report stated that China initially promised Dhaka a $5 billion loan assistance ahead of Hasina’s visit.
However, during the trip, the eventual outcome of the deal amounted to about $100 million.
The report also claimed that Hasina was not given enough media coverage, which is a rarity as the state-run Chinese media tend to give prominent exposure to visiting leaders.
Amid such media reports, Sheikh Hasina is going to address the media on Sunday to express the outcome of the visit.