China wants ‘sister cities’ in Bangladesh

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has said it is ready to support the Bangladesh Awami League in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

The party, which has governed China since 1949, also expressed its urge to make the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), as well as some other major city corporations, “sister cities” to tackle the upcoming challenges.

A sister city is a broad-based, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. The relationship is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed officials from both communities sign an agreement.

Officials of the International Liaison Department of the CPC imparted this information, making the proposal at a webinar on countering Covid-19 on Tuesday afternoon.

Regarding the meeting, Dr Shammi Ahmed, International Affairs secretary of the Awami League, said: “International Liaison Department of CPC leaders told us they are ready to support Bangladesh to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“Chinese leaders and experts of Wuhan city shared their Covid-19 experience with us. They are ready to provide medical support to Bangladesh to fight the pandemic,” she added.

The discussion lasted around two hours, according to DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam.

According to insider sources, the CPC expressed its desire to build sister cities in Bangladesh and wanted to make those cities as developed as some Chinese cities. 

“If the sister city proposal is approved, China will give all kinds of technical and financial support to combat the Covid-19 epidemic, dengue outbreak, and similar problems in those areas,” a top official present at the discussion told Dhaka Tribune.

Two topics, titled ‘Current situation of epidemic prevention and control and measures taken to prevent the disease’ and ‘Balancing the recovery of economic growth and production and the need to curb the outbreak’, were discussed in the webinar.

Muhammad Faruk Khan, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Dr Shammi Ahmed, Barrister Biplab Barua, special assistant to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Office Secretary of Awami League, Mayor Atiqul Islam, and several other top officials of the DNCC participated in the discussion.

From the Chinese side, the leaders of the International Liaison Department of the CPC, representative of Hubei province, representative of Wuhan city, official in charge of community affairs of Wuhan, and some experts from Hubei province participated in the digital conference.