Editorial Desk :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday. The purpose of the PM’s visit is to ask China to invest more in Bangladesh and also to ask China to apply pressure on Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingyas. But the Chinese PM did not give any concrete assurances except stating that it was ready to send its foreign minister to Myanmar and that the two countries would have to find a solution through discussion. This is possible only when both parties are agreeable-if one is slippery as an eel like Myanmar then there is bound to be problems.
China’s second Belt and Road Initiative summit this April was intended to show the ability and willingness of China to invest in Asian countries. The example of Hambantota port in Sri Lanka is given to illustrate the so-called rapacity of the Chinese. But unfortunately Sri Lanka leased out the port because of its looming debt problems which have had little to do with China. The bigger issue behind Sri Lanka’s debt crisis was the choice to borrow from international capital markets at commercial rates at a time when the country’s exports were going down even
while the government consistently failed to fix structural issues such as the reduction of trade, rising protectionism, and reduction of government revenue.
Similarly even Malaysian PM Mahathir backed down from his pro-China rhetoric and indicated his support for Chinese projects in Malaysia-despite campaigning heavily against it in his recent electoral race. He even stated that the flagship Chinese project-the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a multibillion-ringgit China-backed railway project, could go ahead but albeit on a smaller basis.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia includes four subprojects: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM), the Trans-Himalaya Corridor, and China’s cooperation with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives under the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.
The $62 billion CPEC is considered the flagship project, given the speed of its progress. The signing of the memorandum of understanding between China and Pakistan in 2013 was quickly followed by the establishment of Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) and the laying out of the “1+4” cooperation structure (with the Economic Corridor at the center and Gwadar port, energy, infrastructure, and industrial cooperation as the four key areas).
Now, CPEC has reportedly reached the early harvest stage, with more than 20 of the 30 early harvest projects under construction or completed. Among the milestones, Gwadar port has already been made operational, transporting Chinese merchandise to Middle East and Africa. The Gwadar East Bay Expressway and the Gwadar International Airport are under construction.
The other important Chinese projects under the BCIM umbrella include the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project in Bangladesh, the Kunming-Dhaka cargo transportation corridor, and the Bangladesh-Myanmar Railway, which have either been completed or are currently underway. The 2,800-kilometer-long Bangladesh-China-Myanmar Economic Corridor has been made open to traffic, except for certain sections, and two car rallies have been organised from Kolkata, India, to Kunming, Yunnan, in 2011 and 2013.
The United States contends China’s BRI projects are less of an economic benefit for host countries, have dubious economic value, and contain national security elements for Beijing. Washington has also decided against sending high-level officials to attend the BRI summit, citing concerns about financing practices for the project.
Secretary Pompeo said China gives non-economic offers, whether that’s though state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices and Washington would let the world know. But Beijing has extended a loan of more than $4 billion during the current financial year at an interest rate of 2 percent to help Islamabad boost its depleting foreign cash reserves-hardly an example of predatory pricing.
What’s true is that Bangladesh is a small nation without vast economic reserves. So we must diligently use our hard earned foreign currency to figure out what is worthwhile investment. We don’t have the capacity to build white elephants or to sustain the millions which have to be paid as debt repayments.
We do not support the government’s lavish spending on themselves allowing corruption everywhere and then borrowing money in harsher terms from anywhere. Both Sri Lanka and Malaysia have learnt the bitter way how harmful China’s involvement in their economies was. The next generation cannot be asked to bear the burden of inequitable loans, not justified for the benefit of the people.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday. The purpose of the PM’s visit is to ask China to invest more in Bangladesh and also to ask China to apply pressure on Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingyas. But the Chinese PM did not give any concrete assurances except stating that it was ready to send its foreign minister to Myanmar and that the two countries would have to find a solution through discussion. This is possible only when both parties are agreeable-if one is slippery as an eel like Myanmar then there is bound to be problems.
China’s second Belt and Road Initiative summit this April was intended to show the ability and willingness of China to invest in Asian countries. The example of Hambantota port in Sri Lanka is given to illustrate the so-called rapacity of the Chinese. But unfortunately Sri Lanka leased out the port because of its looming debt problems which have had little to do with China. The bigger issue behind Sri Lanka’s debt crisis was the choice to borrow from international capital markets at commercial rates at a time when the country’s exports were going down even
while the government consistently failed to fix structural issues such as the reduction of trade, rising protectionism, and reduction of government revenue.
Similarly even Malaysian PM Mahathir backed down from his pro-China rhetoric and indicated his support for Chinese projects in Malaysia-despite campaigning heavily against it in his recent electoral race. He even stated that the flagship Chinese project-the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a multibillion-ringgit China-backed railway project, could go ahead but albeit on a smaller basis.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia includes four subprojects: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM), the Trans-Himalaya Corridor, and China’s cooperation with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives under the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.
The $62 billion CPEC is considered the flagship project, given the speed of its progress. The signing of the memorandum of understanding between China and Pakistan in 2013 was quickly followed by the establishment of Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) and the laying out of the “1+4” cooperation structure (with the Economic Corridor at the center and Gwadar port, energy, infrastructure, and industrial cooperation as the four key areas).
Now, CPEC has reportedly reached the early harvest stage, with more than 20 of the 30 early harvest projects under construction or completed. Among the milestones, Gwadar port has already been made operational, transporting Chinese merchandise to Middle East and Africa. The Gwadar East Bay Expressway and the Gwadar International Airport are under construction.
The other important Chinese projects under the BCIM umbrella include the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project in Bangladesh, the Kunming-Dhaka cargo transportation corridor, and the Bangladesh-Myanmar Railway, which have either been completed or are currently underway. The 2,800-kilometer-long Bangladesh-China-Myanmar Economic Corridor has been made open to traffic, except for certain sections, and two car rallies have been organised from Kolkata, India, to Kunming, Yunnan, in 2011 and 2013.
The United States contends China’s BRI projects are less of an economic benefit for host countries, have dubious economic value, and contain national security elements for Beijing. Washington has also decided against sending high-level officials to attend the BRI summit, citing concerns about financing practices for the project.
Secretary Pompeo said China gives non-economic offers, whether that’s though state-facilitated, below-market pricing or handing someone something knowing that you can foreclose on their nation shortly, so predatory lending practices and Washington would let the world know. But Beijing has extended a loan of more than $4 billion during the current financial year at an interest rate of 2 percent to help Islamabad boost its depleting foreign cash reserves-hardly an example of predatory pricing.
What’s true is that Bangladesh is a small nation without vast economic reserves. So we must diligently use our hard earned foreign currency to figure out what is worthwhile investment. We don’t have the capacity to build white elephants or to sustain the millions which have to be paid as debt repayments.
We do not support the government’s lavish spending on themselves allowing corruption everywhere and then borrowing money in harsher terms from anywhere. Both Sri Lanka and Malaysia have learnt the bitter way how harmful China’s involvement in their economies was. The next generation cannot be asked to bear the burden of inequitable loans, not justified for the benefit of the people.
