Opinion

Bangladesh can learn from China’s development experience amid pressure to choose sides

Like many developing countries, Bangladesh is more focused on climate change, ending poverty and securing investment than geopolitical wrangling

China has first-hand experience with many of the concerns countries like Bangladesh are experiencing and can provide important guidance

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Then foreign minister Wang Yi (left) speaks to his Bangladeshi counterpart A.K. Abdul Momen during a meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 7, 2022. China’s experience as a developing country has much from which Bangladesh could learn. Photo: AP

Dr Liu Zongyi is a senior fellow and director of the Centre for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS).

Published: 4:30pm, 18 May 2023

The world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation. Profound changes unseen in a century are quickly unfolding, and the international balance of power is shifting.

Asian civilisation is rapidly reviving while Western civilisation is in decline. The dominant power in the international system has taken more measures to maintain its hegemonic position, including containment, suppression and sanctions.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a far-reaching impact. The trend of anti-globalisation is rising, unilateralism and protectionism are gathering pace and the world economy is recovering weakly. Global issues, such as climate change, are intensifying, while regional conflicts are frequent.

Against this backdrop, some countries have intentionally provoked geopolitical tension, triggered an arms race, promoted economic and technological “decoupling”, and tried to pull the world back to the Cold War era of ideological opposition.