Famous jurist, Aristotle, once stated that, “We become what we repeatedly study and focus on.” The Chinese Communist Party led by Xi Jinping is a living state to Aristotle’s word. The long-lasting Chinese culture of enforcing threats, violence, mass killing, communal disharmony, annex and territorial disputation is no longer new to international law and has transformed China to being the “new hub” of growing terrorism practices against the ethnic minorities in China called the non-Han Citizens, whether residing in mainland China or not.
The ideology behind giving threats to its nuclear and non-nuclear neighbours is based on the Communist Party’s growing hallucination on it being a superpower. Xi Jinping is in need of more qualifying fellows to run and expose the faces of the CCP after being exposed of its vicious debt traps, Uyghur genocide, dam construction to weaponising water, developing COVID-19 as a biological weapon since 2015 and hopefully, will revile the threats caused to the Chinese economy and strategic developments in Dhaka region by the joining of Bangladesh in the QUAD group.
China is like a cat on hot bricks after the successful transformation of an informal strategic forum initiated by the former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, to an established Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between member nations (the United States, Japan, India and Australia) with its successful first summit in March 2021 without its involvement and possibilities of a military grouping similar but stronger than NATO.
The CCP puppet, Li Jiming, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh on May 11, 2021, two months after the first QUAD summit stated, “Relations with China will be substantially damaged if Bangladesh joins QUAD initiative. We do not want any form of participation of Bangladesh in this alliance” stressing that though QUAD is said to be an economic security element in the Indo-Pacific region, in reality, it is a group of elites working against China.
This threat is not the first. Wei Fenghe, Chinese Defence Minister, visited Bangladesh a week prior and emphasised the unusual warning to the Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid that “Beijing and Dhaka should make joint efforts against power from outside the region establishing a military alliance in South Asia”.
In response to the open threat, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Dr. AK Abdul Momen, stated, “We’re an independent and sovereign state. We decide our foreign policy. But yes, any country can uphold its position”.
The pressure created by the Chinese on Bangladesh is directly linked to the first QUAD Summit in March 2021. Rather, it’s a response to the growing QUAD relations which undoubtedly China can’t digest. Right after the summit, the release of the CCP-handled newspaper, Global Times, stating, “QUAD cannot replace NATO in Asia”, is proof of China’s horror in a successful QUAD.
The Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, after the visit of the Chinese Defence Minister stated that, “Sri Lanka has been pursuing an independent foreign policy and will never forge an alliance with any country.” This was seen as an euphemism for the QUAD members.
With India too, China has not eased up on its belligerence. The negotiation for a disengagement in Eastern Ladakh has stalled, and reports have emerged about China entrenching its position in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian courtship with the QUAD members and establishment of defence alliance gives the CCP a sore throat. The border clash with India should make China realise that being India’s enemy will yield no fruit, rather, it will be a foolish act of putting the axe on its own foot.
Even after with efforts like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, One Belt One Road, Belt and Road Initiative String of Pearls, military bases on indebted neighbours under the debt cycle, the Chinese ambition to rule the Indo-Pacific region is impossible especially with the CCP relying on the loose valueless ties built with treacherous deeds which in the long run damper China’s ambition.
China doesn’t share values of a democratic sovereign and given its chaotic domestic situation and with no friendly International reputation after COVID-19, debt traps, Uyghur genocide, Hong Kong and Taiwan disputes, the country relies on other countries to accomplish its goal.
QUAD presence curtails China’s influence and dependence in the Indo-pacific and South-China sea region giving South East Asian countries an independent and safe environment for trade. Therefore, it is shameful for China to use countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to grow its influence and act as a barrier in the development of these countries by joining QUAD.
It is striking that China confuses the freedom to act for freedom to harm. And in following this course of action, it is acting as its own enemy and digging a grave for itself.
Zin is a rights activist based in the US.
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