'Upset' Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina cuts short her China visit: Report

China reportedly promised Dhaka $5 billion in loan assistance ahead of the visit. The eventual outcome of deal amounted to $100 mn

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cut short her China visit and returned to Dhaka a day earlier as she was apparently “upset” over Beijing’s failure to fulfil its promise of financial support and not extending the appropriate protocol to her, The Economic Times reported on Saturday.

Hasina was reportedly on a four-day visit to China but returned a day earlier on Wednesday. Hasina's early return indicated that her objectives for the visit were not met, the report said, citing people aware of the matter.

President Xi Jinping met with visiting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, and the two leaders announced to elevate China-Bangladesh relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.https://t.co/YLedmsmLiJ pic.twitter.com/aYngDQKTJu

— CCTV+ (@CCTV_Plus) July 10, 2024

It said that she might have been “upset” because China did not fulfil its promise of financial support or extend the appropriate protocol to the Bangladeshi premier.

 

China promised $5 billion to Dhaka, announced only $100 million

The report stated that China initially promised Dhaka a $5 billion loan assistance ahead of Hasina’s visit. However, during the trip, the eventual outcome of the deal amounted to about $100 million.

#Bangladesh and China on Wednesday (July 10, 2024) announced seven outcomes, including that conclusion of joint feasibility study on Bangladesh-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Other announced outcomes are
- commencement of negotiation on the optimisation of Bangladesh-China… pic.twitter.com/Wvg740ONyD

— Awami League (@albd1971) July 10, 2024

A post on social media platform X shared by Hasina's Awami League party on July 10 said China had pledged economic assistance of 1 billion Yuan ($137.64 million) to Bangladesh.

The media report said that Hasina’s bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping did not last as long as she had anticipated. It said that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also did not call on the visiting Prime Minister (PM).

Hasina’s party has extensively covered the details of her trip on the party’s X handle, including her meeting with the Chinese PM Li Qiang and Xi. However, no images were shared of her meeting with the foreign minister.

Chinese media reportedly ignored Hasina

The report also said that Hasina was not given enough media coverage, which is a rarity as the state-run Chinese media tend to give prominent exposure to visiting leaders.

Upon her arrival in Beijing, Awami League shared images on Monday and noted that the two nations were expected to sign 20 to 22 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during the trip. This post by the Awami League confirmed that Hasina’s trip would be for four days. However, the post shared on July 11 said that the official trip lasted three days.

Another post said the two nations signed 16 MoUs for cooperation in trade and technology.

On July 10, the party said the two nations had announced seven outcomes, including the conclusion of a joint feasibility study on the Bangladesh-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA).