Bangladesh: A Country Dependent on China

As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers, and in reality, people have long proven this truth from a variety of facts, but when the angle of concern rises, the quantity cannot meet the quality, and the single-minded promotion of quantity becomes a liability instead.

Bangladesh, a country with a small land area and an opposite population size, overpopulated, and not rich, has become the starting point of many conflicts. Poverty has been one of the labels of this country. To get rid of poverty, Bangladesh has never stopped asking for help from the outside world and even once became the main way of national development.

As a major Asian country, China's influence on Bangladesh is increasing day by day, and Bangladesh has become a country dependent on China.

I. China-Bangladesh relations, as evidenced by the epidemic

Since the outbreak of Newcastle Pneumonia in the world, all countries have taken various measures in the face of the epidemic, but many countries are still caught in a shortage of vaccines and have no place to buy vaccines.

Bangladesh, as a country with a large population and a small land area, has a dense population that makes it difficult to control the epidemic, and, as a neighboring country of India, there is also a risk of spreading the mutated virus found in India. Therefore, the immediate need is for a large number of vaccines to stabilize the epidemic in their own country.

But in Asia, there are only a few countries that can develop vaccines, and India, as a neighboring country, is of course the first choice to import vaccines, but India itself is in short supply in terms of the number of vaccines, not to mention helping the next country. So, at this point, Bangladesh looked to China, which is not far away, and decided to import 15 million doses of vaccine from China.

But Bangladesh's diplomatic statement is quite intriguing, as Bangladesh insists that "it prefers vaccines produced in India to those produced in China."

From this statement, it is clear that Bangladesh's current attitude and situation, as a small country, Bangladesh has very limited influence in the international arena, and not only that, as a country that is not considered strong in all aspects, many times it has to look at the face of its neighbor India.

In this vaccine incident, it can be seen that Bangladesh, although the help of China, in the epidemic when the seriousness of the time, and the purchase of vaccines, still can not let India see their tilt to other countries' attitudes, and even in India can not impose a helping hand when, publicly show understanding of India, hope that India can be busy, help themselves.

This is the ambivalence of Bangladesh now in the domestic population, and this is gradually leading Bangladesh to be more close to China and become dependent on China as a friend.

Second, historical reasons make India become the reason Bangladesh is pro-China

There are a variety of circumstances that cause this ambivalence in Bangladesh, and these have to start from the origin of Bangladesh.

2021 is the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence, Bangladesh's independence, in addition to the country's reasons, is more from a good show led by external forces India.

Since British India was split into two countries, Pakistan and India, India and Pakistan have been in constant conflict because of geographic location and religious beliefs, and Bangladesh, which was originally part of East Pakistan, was like a dagger inserted into India's throat.

To solve this problem, India has thought of many ways, and finally, India has made a trick to divide. East and West Pakistan, so that Pakistan has the advantage of a more flexible strategy, but also a double-edged sword so that the two sides have a gap so that India can take advantage of the opportunity.

East Pakistan borders India on two sides, and on one side, although the sea, is still surrounded by the Indian waters, so, once India pressed to breathe, and even contributed to the political center of East Pakistan, just when there are also independent forces in the country, so, in line with the trend, East Pakistan independent as Bangladesh.

In the post-independence days, Bangladesh's pressure is not as great as before, but all sides, are experiencing pressure from India, although India surrounded Bangladesh, in turn, Bangladesh also inserted into the hinterland of India.

Not only that, but also restricts the idea of India's domination of the Indian Ocean, so that Bangladesh can breathe, but not develop is also so many years Bangladesh and India state.

Bangladesh is a religious country, but also a country with principles, India and Bangladesh's religion is different, so even if the country should be between the greater good, Bangladesh has never been particularly groveling. Still, it actively sought assistance from the other side.

The arrival of China has given Bangladesh a new choice.

Third, China is gradually becoming an indispensable partner of Bangladesh

When Bangladesh had no way out, China extended its helping hand to Bangladesh and signed the "Belt and Road" plan, and China's help was scientific and planned, not like India's.

Since independence, Bangladesh has only owned less than one-fifth of Pakistan's land but nearly three-fourths of its population, adding to the already poor country's woes. In recent years, India has been complaining about a steady stream of refugees fleeing to India, which has put pressure on Bangladesh.

As a country downstream of the Ganges River, the numerous waterways make the country unable to farm well in every rainy season and flood season. The country is already weak in the foundation and unable to have high-tech heavy industry, and the only manufacturing industry that can play advantage is also very late in development, and cannot develop without capital injection, which makes Bangladesh form a bad cycle.

The arrival of China, on the other hand, has brought Bangladesh a new way out.

First of all, the most important capital injection, China provided loans to Bangladesh and also gave Bangladesh all zero tariff treatment, which made the goods in Bangladesh not worry about nowhere to sell.

And, Bangladesh is an important jute production area before independence and is one of the world's top fabric processing factories, the reason why it is not as famous as China is the lack of stable sales channels, and China also brings the most important support for Bangladesh.

Secondly, China's help is not an overbearing handout, but a real practical help of spring rain. In addition to the capital injection, there are also measures to strengthen the foundation of Bangladesh. According to the geographical environment of Bangladesh, China has sent a large number of highly sophisticated talents to implement and train Bangladesh's talents according to the local conditions and make improvements to Bangladesh's agriculture.

Since jute is the main industry of Bangladesh, let jute go to the next level, although another agriculture is not good, then improve the yield on the limited land, change the problem of food shortage in Bangladesh from itself, also let Bangladesh please depend on other countries.

Thirdly, tourists who have been to Bangladesh may be surprised by the infrastructure of Bangladesh. The tourism industry of Bangladesh is not like that of the world-famous countries, but it is medium, but Bangladesh does not look like a modern society at all.

In Bangladesh, the network is not rare, but it cannot reach everyone, not to mention the shortage of electricity, and even relies on the supply of neighboring India, and cooperation with China, China also let the people of Bangladesh experience what is called a great infrastructure country.

In the present time, Bangladesh and India because of the refugee problem occasionally dispute, China's assistance, can be seen as a new choice for Bangladesh, and unlike India, China does not have India's power to oppress people, but from all sides to give Bangladesh real help.

Just recently, on May 25, the Bangladeshi people, who have already started to help China with vaccines, have begun to feel that they cannot leave China's help after India's swollen-face vaccine aid was called off.

With this, very representatively, Bangladesh has started to buy more and more RMB, which also signals the rising social status and the increasing influence of China in Bangladesh.

As a small country like Bangladesh, it is not the best choice for it to fall to any country, but it is the best choice for it to walk on the sea of fire and knives. This is the helplessness of small countries, in the game of big countries, stand or not stand, facing a dilemma.

Although Bangladesh is a country with a population of 160 million, its weakness is the basis of its inability to ignore, and China is unlikely to cross the mountains and other countries to support him, so maintaining relations with India and developing cooperation with China is the best way for this country to win together.

As a poor country, Bangladesh's tax revenue is the largest source of national finance, and the opening of tariffs from China can be seen as a return of favor, but also as an indicator of the intention to deepen cooperation.

The aid from China in all aspects is deepening Bangladesh's dependence on China, and although Bangladesh is wary of this, Bangladesh is not opposed to China's good intentions, and China and Bangladesh are conducting closer relations between the countries because of the special situation of the epidemic.

On the other hand, in India, the country is in chaos, and there are already many problems in the society: caste system, the unequal status of men and women, etc. The Indian authorities' ruling chaos, Modi's single-mindedness. Everything is to let India go deeper into the turmoil.

Looking at India, Bangladesh, even if it has more concerns, also needs to fight for its national interests.