The Padma Multipurpose Bridge, which was inaugurated on Saturday last week, straddles the Padma River and is Bangladesh’s longest. The project has punctured the lies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda machine.
China claims that the bridge is the result of a “glorious collaboration” between the two countries, but Bangladesh has said that the four-lane rail bridge was independently funded by its government and private enterprises.
Beijing had sought to promote the bridge as among the fruit of its Belt and Road Initiative, but the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week said that no foreign funds were used to complete the project, which is an initiative of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed.
The ministry said that Chinese involvement was limited to an engineering team, which provided assistance with the design. It emphasized that the Chinese team was not the only engineering team working on the project.
Bangladesh’s politics is dominated by two main political factions, the pro-India Awami League, established by the “founding father of Bangladesh” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, founded by military officer Ziaur Rahman.
Observers describe Bangladeshi politics as a war between two women: Hasina, who is Mujibur Rahman’s daughter, and former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia, Ziaur Rahman’s wife. Indian officials and think tanks universally support Hasina, on account of her family’s close relationship with India.
Since independence, Bangladesh has, with the support of New Delhi, stepped out of the shadow of Pakistan’s influence. Since Hasina took office, Bangladesh-India ties have been close and positive.
While Bangladesh is a participant in the Belt and Road Initiative and is a member of Beijing’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, its government has pushed back against China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats. For example, after China praised Bangladesh’s “wise decision” to decline to join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and “dance to the tune of India and the US,” Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs A.K. Abdul Momen immediately rebuffed Beijing, saying: “We’re an independent and sovereign state. We decide our foreign policy. Any country can uphold its position, but we will take decisions considering the interest of people and the country.”
Although Bangladesh did not join the Quad, it is a member of the Indian-led Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, making Dhaka a significant partner in India’s strategic containment of China.
This time, Beijing’s propaganda has flopped, a result of the unfortunate fact for Beijing that Chinese investment in South Asia has been overtaken by India. This is partly because China does not have comprehensive investment funds or overseas Chinese networks in South Asia, as it does in Southeast Asia.
However, it is also because, unlike in Africa, China is not viewed by South Asian nations as a counterbalance to Europe.
Moreover, India considers South Asia as its “backyard” and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced China to spend more resources on nations within Moscow’s sphere of influence to stop the US from snatching them away.
With South Asian nations being led by pro-Indian governments, it is not surprising that Bangladesh has gone against the grain, stood up to China and thrown a wrench into its propaganda machine.
Wang Wen-sheng is a retired political operations officer and is enrolled in a doctoral program at Jindal University in India.
Translated by Edward Jones
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