Bangladesh
Border Dispute | Myanmar Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming terms developments at border as unfortunate
Dhaka, September 26: China's ambassador to Dhaka, Li Ziming, commented that the unstable situation on the border for more than a month due to the internal conflict in Myanmar is very unfortunate. On Monday (September 26), the Chinese ambassador met with the Acting Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md Khurshed Alam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He made this comment while facing the journalists after the meeting.
Earlier, on September 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the ambassadors of the ASEAN member states in Dhaka and informed them about the aggressive activities of Myanmar. The Chinese ambassador did not attend the meeting that day despite being invited. Those concerned believe that China has a role in the Myanmar issue.
After the meeting with the foreign secretary, the Chinese ambassador said, "We have had such talks as between friends. We have discussed several international cooperations, including the rapid repatriation of the Rohingyas."
At this time, journalists asked the ambassador to inquire about the Bangladesh-Myanmar border situation. In response, he said, "The foreign secretary told me about it. What is happening at the border is very unfortunate. I think it is a matter for discussion."
ASEAN alliance envoys were called to the state guest house for the first time last Monday to inform about of the problems faced by Bangladesh due to the armed Arakan Army's conflict with the country's army in Rakhine state of Myanmar.
Laos and Cambodia, which do not have missions in Dhaka, were excluded from the briefing done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Myanmar was also excluded. Diplomats from the remaining seven countries attended the briefing. Dhaka urged ASEAN's cooperation there.
Acting Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md Khurshed Alam called the ambassadors of different countries posted in Dhaka to the same venue on Tuesday and called for cooperation by highlighting Bangladesh's position on the matter.
About 30 ambassadors from different countries were also present in the briefing that day. Among them, the ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and various European countries including Russia and the Arab world were present. However, no representative of China was seen in the briefing.
