On April 7, 2023, the “Ramadan Gathering with China” was held at the Embassy of China in Bangladesh. Over 70 youth representatives from the Bangladeshi government, political parties, military, universities, enterprises, media houses and foreign missions took part in the event.
In his welcoming remarks, H.E. Mr. Yao Wen, Ambassador of China to Bangladesh, conveyed his best wishes to the audience for the sacred Ramadan. He said that Bangladesh is a vigorous country not only in terms of its robust socio-economic development, but because of its promising young generation. As per census in 2022, the country’s young population is over 45 million. Youth is power. It is hoped that, with intimate and frequent exchanges, the young talents from both countries would lift higher and pass on the torch of the China-Bangladesh friendship that is deeply rooted and firmly standing.
Ambassador Yao said that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held late last year put forward the roadmap to realize the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation by way of a Chinese path to modernization. The recently concluded “two sessions” made detailed action plans accordingly for developing the country in the days to come. To let the Bangladeshi friends better understand these most recent updates, three young diplomats from the Embassy will brief the audience on several topics with implications for China-Bangladesh relations. After the presentation, amicable but frank discussions, and even debates, among the young minds are expected, so as to bring in fresh ideas that would further enhance friendship and relations between the two peoples.
Dressed in traditional outfits of Bangladesh, three young diplomats from the Chinese Embassy delivered presentations with abundant visual materials, and shared their own observations and analyses.
They first demonstrated how the Communist Party of China, a political party with a history of more than a century, coped with all kinds of challenges to make its success today. They elaborated the Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance and the Whole-Process People’s Democracy in practice, and showcased the achievement of the Beautiful China Initiative and the poverty-alleviation campaign. The action plans for High-quality Development and High-standard Opening-up were also introduced in this part.
After case studies on China’s efforts to broker deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, to promote political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, and to facilitate the resolution of the Rohingya issue between Bangladesh and Myanmar, the young diplomats introduced China’s Peaceful Diplomacy and the vision for Human Community with Shared Future with analyses on the application in the scenario of China-Bangladesh relations. They appealed for close collaboration between the two developing countries with vast population to achieve their respective national dreams which share significant commonality.
Then they moved on to present the development of Xinjiang, China. The progress on civil and political rights, economic rights, cultural rights and the freedom of religion were displayed with solid facts and data. The hypocrisies related to Xinjiang, such as the so-called “forced labor”, were rejected. The young diplomats invited the youth from Bangladesh to visit the beautiful Xinjiang, check the fact by themselves, and fend off disinformation.
In the following quiz session, the young diplomats raised questions related to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Belt and Road cooperation between China and Bangladesh, and China’s policies towards its Xinjiang. The audience raced for the opportunity to take the quiz. Ambassador Yao granted gifts to those who gave the correct answers.
The program was concluded with a group photo, when the hosts and guests expressed their best wishes to all Muslim and Bangladeshi people by hailing “Ramadan Mubarak!”.
As a sister of the “Spring Dialogue with China”, the “Ramadan Gathering with China” is a program tailored for the youth group of Bangladesh, aiming at enhancing the friendly exchanges of the young talents from the two countries.