China, Tibet and we
I refer to the timely comments made by former Ambassador M. Serajul Islam in his article "Civil Society and Bangladesh's foreign policy objectives, " published in The Daily Star on November 14, 2009 on 'Strategic Issues' page.
While I fully endorse the points of view expressed in the well thought out commentary, I should like to emphasis upon the main point brought out therein. The civil society should be aware and conscious of the national objectives, and certainly the foreign policy ones. Unfortunately, this is occasionally not the case in our country.
China is a trusted and close friend of Bangladesh, and the two countries have no current or possible clash of interests at all. It is in the interest of both the countries that all sections of society and the government try to strengthen the bonds of our close friendship and deep understanding, and to the fullest extent. In the context, the efforts of a hitherto unknown group called “Students for a free Tibet( SFT),” along with a local gallery to stage a photo show titled 'Into exile-Tibet 1949-2009' seem to have been motivated by extra-national political interests. A visit to the website of SFT reveals that besides India, Bangladesh is the only developing country among the eight countries which have SFT national network. The foreign ministry and the home ministry will have to keep SFT under careful watch. Bangladesh cannot afford to see its relationship with China damaged by unpatriotic elements.
We thank the Chinese Embassy for taking the initiative of pointing that out and the authorities for their subsequent prohibitive steps. We in Bangladesh believe in One China. We believe that Tibet is and always has been an inseparable part of China. There cannot be any deviation from this unalterable principled stand.
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