China has lost a partner with the resignation under pressure of Bangladesh’s long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who during a visit to Beijing last month signed 28 bilateral agreements and agreed to raise ties between the countries to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.”
Beijing’s official response to her flight into exile was muted, with the Xinhua News Agency quoting the Foreign Ministry describing Bangladesh as a “friendly neighbor” and expressing its hopes that “social stability would be restored soon.”
But on Chinese social media platforms, users have openly praised the courage of the student protesters who drove Hasina out of office, braving a harsh military crackdown that saw dozens if not hundreds of students killed.
“At a moment when democracy and equality were faced with sustained and serious setbacks, the heroic people of Bangladesh used their lives and blood to turn the tide around. The world’s civilizations may be diverse, but they only have one path forward. Best wishes to the Bengalis,” one Weibo user wrote.
Some internet users lamented that Chinese are less willing than their Bangladeshi counterparts to resist government policies.
“They’re much braver compared to the people in China,” a Weibo user wrote.
“Agreed, some Chinese people aren’t even brave enough to leave their communities because of the pandemic,” another replied, a reference to the tight restrictions the Chinese government put in place during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hours after Hasina fled, Bangladeshi Army Chief of Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman addressed the people of Bangladesh, promising that the military would investigate the violent crackdown on the student protesters.
“Keep faith in the military, we will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible,” he said, adding that he had ordered the army and police to not open fire on crowds under any circumstances.
The military’s newfound restraint elicited praise from some Chinese social media users.
“I salute the brave Bangladeshi people, I salute the military that stands together with the people. Rights are acquired through fighting. Best wishes to the Bangladeshi people,” a comment read.
Others argued that the past month’s protests were the result of disorder brought upon the country by Western ideology, and that only an ideology such as that of the Chinese Communist Party could bring stability to Bangladesh.
“A handful of ambitious people, plus a small group of mindless fanatics, has shaped and destroyed the fate of everyone,” wrote one Weibo user. “The only way to avoid this result is through iron-fist rule by a party representative of the people. Democracy and freedom accelerate a country’s self-destruction. They are the worst political system.”
Other users applied the government’s own talking points to counter that argument.
“Democracy and freedom are written into socialist values. Who do you think you are, daring to oppose socialist values?” one comment read.
Hasina was Bangladesh's longest-serving female head of government. She was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in January elections boycotted by her main political rival. Thousands of opposition members were arrested ahead of the elections. The United States and Britain condemned the election results as untrustworthy.
Although what comes next remains to be seen, China will be watching closely given the amount of money and energy it has already invested in the relationship.
In the July communique announcing the two sides’ upgrade to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, the two countries announced plans to increase defense exchanges and allow for an expanded Chinese role in Bangladeshi infrastructure and economic development.
In the security domain, Bangladesh has been a steady consumer of Chinese weapons. From 2009, when Hasina took power, to 2023, Bangladesh received 12% of Chinese total arms exports, a quantity second only to Pakistan, according to the SIPRI Arms Transfer database.
The two sides also partook in their first military exercise in early May of this year.
Bangladesh joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2016 to receive Chinese financial assistance on various infrastructure projects. So far, China has assisted in the construction of important roads and railways, expansion of the power and communications grids, modernization of seaports and development of a surface water treatment plant.
Katherine Michaelson contributed to this report.
