ROHINGYA CRISIS

China urges Bangladesh not to internationalise the issue

First ever direct Beijing involvement encourages Dhaka

Dhaka is considering the visit of Sun Guoxiang, special envoy of Asian affairs of Chinese Foreign Ministry, to Bangladesh over April 20-23 in connection with the Rohingya crisis as ‘very positive’ because it is the first time Beijing got directly involved with the issue, Foreign Ministry officials concerned have told The Independent.

At the same time, they pointed out that Bangladesh is also aware of China’s deeper and special relations with Myanmar based on so many interests which is why no miraculous breakthrough is expected at this point of time.
“This is the first ever direct Chinese involvement which is very encouraging. But, we do not expect any miracle right now,” said a senior official.
“Although both Myanmar and Bangladesh are China’s neighbours, Beijing has much deeper and special relationship with Naypyidaw due to many interest-related aspects including issues related to geopolitics,” he said.
While in Bangladesh, the Chinese envoy held a series of meetings with Bangladeshi officials including Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque.
Bangladesh has proposed that Sun undertakes a visit to Cox’s Bazar to see for himself the plights of thousands of Rohingyas living in the coastal district. But, the envoy did not go to Cox’s Bazar.
About the topics of discussions in the meetings, the officials said that he assured Bangladesh of China’s help in resolving the protracted issue.
Bangladesh welcomed China’s offer to help, they said, adding that the envoy did not talk about mediating rather talked about encouraging both the countries to resolve the issue.
The officials further said that the Chinese envoy requested Bangladesh not to internationalise the issue, rather laid emphasis on resolving the problem through bilateral engagements.

They said that the response from the Bangladesh side was that Dhaka has been consistently making efforts to resolve the issue, which is affecting Bangladesh in many aspects, bilaterally, but it is not getting possible due to the unwillingness of Myanmar. On the internationalisation of the issue, they added that Bangladesh side pointed out that it is Myanmar which is doing this thing through spreading propaganda in different international forums.
“We said to the special envoy very clearly that we have been trying and will keep on trying to resolve this bilaterally. But, it’s not a one-way traffic,” said another official.
“We have conveyed to the special envoy that all we want is the repatriation of all Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh as soon as possible and to create a situation under which the Rohingya populace can live peacefully with citizenship,” he said.
“The envoy assured us of conveying our messages to the Myanmar authorities when he will visit that country again,” he added.
To a question, the officials said that our neighbours, including China and India, are not helping us in the manner we would like. Referring to the adoption of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on this issue last month moved by the European Union, they said that China and India did not go along with the resolution, rather they have disassociated them from the resolution.
“If these two countries would exert their influence on the government of Myanmar, things could have been much more different,” said the official. “But sadly, we don’t live in an ideal world. So many interests play critical roles even in a situation where people die,” he said. 
“Despite all these things, China’s direct involvement is a positive step in the right direction,” he added. Many Rohingyas were killed and injured in the atrocities orchestrated by the Myanmar security forces aided by local Buddhists in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since October last year. Around 70, 000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to add to over three to five lakhs already living in Bangladesh for decades.

 

ROHINGYA CRISIS

China urges Bangladesh not to internationalise the issue

First ever direct Beijing involvement encourages Dhaka

Dhaka is considering the visit of Sun Guoxiang, special envoy of Asian affairs of Chinese Foreign Ministry, to Bangladesh over April 20-23 in connection with the Rohingya crisis as very positive because it is the first time Beijing got directly involved with the issue, Foreign Ministry officials concerned have told The Independent. At the same time, they pointed out that Bangladesh is also aware of Chinas deeper and special relations with Myanmar based on so many interests which is why no miraculous breakthrough is expected at this point of time. This is the first ever direct Chinese involvement which is very encouraging. But, we do not expect any miracle right now, said a senior official. Although both Myanmar and Bangladesh are Chinas neighbours, Beijing has much deeper and special relationship with Naypyidaw due to many interest-related aspects including issues related to geopolitics, he said. While in Bangladesh, the Chinese envoy held a series of meetings with Bangladeshi officials including Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque. Bangladesh has proposed that Sun undertakes a visit to Coxs Bazar to see for himself the plights of thousands of Rohingyas living in the coastal district. But, the envoy did not go to Coxs Bazar. About the topics of discussions in the meetings, the officials said that he assured Bangladesh of Chinas help in resolving the protracted issue. Bangladesh welcomed Chinas offer to help, they said, adding that the envoy did not talk about mediating rather talked about encouraging both the countries to resolve the issue. The officials further said that the Chinese envoy requested Bangladesh not to internationalise the issue, ratherlaid emphasis on resolving the problem through bilateral engagements. They said that the response from the Bangladesh side was that Dhaka has been consistently making efforts to resolve the issue, which is affecting Bangladesh in many aspects, bilaterally, but it is not getting possible due to the unwillingness of Myanmar. On the internationalisation of the issue, they added that Bangladesh side pointed out that it is Myanmar which is doing this thing through spreading propaganda in different international forums. We said to the special envoy very clearly that we have been trying and will keep on trying to resolve this bilaterally. But, its not a one-way traffic, said another official. We have conveyed to the special envoy that all we want is the repatriation of all Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh as soon as possible and to create a situation under which the Rohingya populace can live peacefully with citizenship, he said. The envoy assured us of conveying our messages to the Myanmar authorities when he will visit that country again, he added. To a question, the officials said that our neighbours, including China and India, are not helping us in the manner we would like. Referring to the adoption of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on this issue last month moved by the European Union, they said that China and India did not go along with the resolution, rather they have disassociated them from the resolution. If these two countries would exert their influence on the government of Myanmar, things could have been much more different, said the official. But sadly, we dont live in an ideal world. So many interests play critical roles even in a situation where people die, he said. Despite all these things, Chinas direct involvement is a positive step in the right direction, he added. Many Rohingyas were killed and injured in the atrocities orchestrated by the Myanmar security forces aided by local Buddhists in Myanmars Rakhine state since October last year. Around 70, 000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to add to over three to five lakhs already living in Bangladesh for decades.