14 December 2021, NIICE Commentary 7540
Dwaipayan Sinha
The recent meetings of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), which is an informal strategic alliance group comprising of India, Japan, Australia and United States seemingly created with the purpose of cutting China down to size, has not evaded China’s ire. Recent statements made by Li Jimming, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, have exposed the fact that China is very concerned about the possible expansion of the QUAD. On 10 May, 2021 Li stated that the bilateral ties between China and Bangladesh would be “substantially damaged” in case Bangladesh contemplates joining the US-led alliance. This statement was made while the Chinese envoy was addressing the members at an event organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association. Li expressed his doubts on the nature of the alliance which he believed to be a minor anti-China platform. Li’s statements caused a furore in Bangladesh, with A.K. Abdul Momen, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh calling the statements of the Chinese envoy “very unfortunate” and “regrettable”. Momen reiterated the fact that Bangladesh is “an independent and sovereign state” and as such they would have the final say regarding joining any alliance. This forced Li to meet Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and clarify the statements earlier made by him. Li asserted that he was making the statement in his personal capacity while responding to a question made by a journalist and was not intending to make any sort of suggestion to influence Bangladesh’s foreign policy. He clarified that he did not intend to harm the relations between the two Asian nations and his remarks were taken out of context.
In contrast, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying branded the QUAD grouping as an “exclusive clique” whose purpose was to project China as a challenge in order to “sow discord between regional countries and China”. This statement is being seen as the official endorsement of Li’s views by the Chinese government. She repudiated the idea that China was interested in influencing the internal affairs of other countries and defended Li’s remarks as statements made to reject small cliques. Li’s not-so-covert warnings came just a few weeks after Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe visited Bangladesh. According to the Chinese-state-owned news agency Xinhua, in his meeting with Bangladesh’s President Abdul Hamid, Wei initiated talks regarding making joint efforts against players outside the region who were behind setting up of mini-lateral military blocs and promoting hegemonic tendencies.
Li’s comments did not fail to attract the attention of the US authorities. Ned Price, US State Department spokesperson, stated in a press briefing held in Washington that the US had noted Li’s remarks and US respected Bangladesh’s sovereign right to frame their own foreign policy. Price made it a point to clarify the status of QUAD as “an informal, essential, multilateral mechanism”, contrary to the Chinese interpretation of it being a “military” alliance. The QUAD, which was initially established in 2007 under the initiative of the-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, had been lying dormant for several years. In 2017, the group saw its resurgence and the member-states have been involved in meets twice a year since then. On 12 March, 2021, the first-ever virtual leaders’ summit was held between the leaders of these nations which provided a new life to the group. The member-states issued a joint statement after the conclusion of the summit and spoke of their shared vision for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region. Political analysts believe that this statement was made at China without mentioning its name directly.
The virtual meet was followed up with the authorities from the QUAD member-states virtually meeting again on 20th March to discuss how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea, Vietnam and New Zealand were also part of this meet triggering discussions among the observers of this region of a “QUAD Plus” grouping. This has set alarm bells ringing in Beijing which believes that US is intending to expand the QUAD alliance and incorporate more countries into the anti-China alliance. Beijing fears that Dhaka might be approached to be a part of this alliance, even though there have been no discussions of a larger QUAD grouping beyond COVID-19 relief measures. The QUAD members have also stated that there are no plans of expanding the group as of now.
Bangladesh plays a very important role in the Indian Ocean Region owing to its geographic proximity to the Bay of Bengal and thus becomes a vital partner of all players who have interests in this region. For China, Bangladesh is a vital cog in the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with a number of Chinese companies heavily invested in several development projects. As such, Beijing does not wish to see Dhaka join any QUAD Plus initiative which could result in Dhaka moving out of Beijing’s sphere of influence. Li’s comments must be read in this context. China gifted Bangladesh 500,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine on 12 May, 2021.
Furthermore, Bangladesh has been forced to make desperate attempts to import COVID-19 vaccines, even reaching out to China, following the Indian government’s ban on export of vaccines as the second wave of COVID-19 run havoc through India. Dhaka had penned a letter to the Chinese officials in order to buy 40 to 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by December 2021 according to Bangladesh’s Health Minister. This has emboldened Beijing to assert its authorative nature in warning Bangladesh against joining a US-led QUAD Plus initiative as Dhaka is reliant on Beijing to continue with its vaccination drive.
As the COVID-19 situation got worse in India, China found its opportunity to increase its clout among the nations in the Indo-Pacific region with establishment of an anti-COVID-19 cooperation with regional players like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. China brought about a vaccine storage reserve for these South Asian nations. The objective of this new platform is to provide vaccines on a priority basis to these member-states when faced with emergency situations.
Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh has been walking the tightrope in maintaining cordial relations with the major powers quite effectively. Dhaka is not unaware of the importance of India, China, United States and Japan in infrastructural and economic development of the nation. Bangladesh, on its part, has not been very active in demanding a seat at the table of the QUAD meetings and its interest in the alliance is restricted to the economic and connectivity prospects. In March 2021, India and Bangladesh jointly inaugurated the ‘Maitri Setu’(Friendship Bridge) in order to increase infrastructure connectivity between the two neighbours. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Bangladesh to enhance the relations with Dhaka and to rope in the nation within India’s strategic visions of a “free and open” Indo-Pacific. India has also embraced Japan as a partner in its efforts to enhance connectivity in Bangladesh. As Bangladesh’s stature rises in the international for as (it is expected to come under the “developed nation’ category by 2026), the government must realise that it has to contend with new political and economic challenges in an increasingly hostile world. As such, it will try to ensure to get trade and strategic advantages which will serve its own interests without getting on the wrong side of either bloc.
Dwaipayan Sinha is a Research Intern at NIICE.
