China cautious about new Bangladesh govt, seeks to maintain economic ties: Taiwanese experts

Taiwanese experts have said China has been cautious about the new interim government, seeking to maintain its investments in Bangladesh.

"China will be cautious. I think China's investment in Bangladesh is mainly in infrastructure projects, particularly energy and transportation, not much in regular business or manufacturing," said Mumin Chen, a professor at Taiwan's Ching Hsing University, during an interview with Taiwan Talks, TaiwanPlus' flagship current affairs show.

"I think that China's interest in Bangladesh right now is to make sure investments and projects continue and to ensure the new government is not hostile to China," he added.

Roger Lium, an assistant professor at Taiwan's National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), said, "Bangladesh is very important, especially if we talk about its geopolitical value to China from the BRI [Belt and Road Initiative] perspective."

"Bangladesh is an important country in which China has invested a lot of resources as part of the BRI. China has helped Bangladesh build major infrastructure projects, including the Padma Bridge Rail Link, power plants, and even some ICT infrastructure," Lium added.

"China has to showcase to its domestic audience that BRI has worked in South Asia, and Bangladesh is very important right next to Pakistan," he said.

Taiwan Talks interviewed Mumin Chen and Roger Liu to understand how China would react after Sheikh Hasina's overthrow and the rise of Bangladesh's interim government under Professor Muhammad Yunus.