Last Tuesday China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu reiterated his country’s preference for a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear standoff, rebuffing calls for China to back UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. A China Daily editorial released the same day pushed back against such pressure, deeming the singling out of China on the issue by […]
The Awami League government in power in 1997 thought it had settled a long-fought campaign for autonomy led by a group of the Chakma, the tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It seems now, acts of violence have recalled the Bangladeshi military into the region As the BBC reported on February 23rd, “Bangladesh’s army […]
US Special Envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is making the rounds in Beijing this week to drum up support for the stalled six-party talks – the diplomatic framework first implemented in 2003 that seeks to peacefully resolve the security concerns springing from North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Although Ambassador Bosworth has still not indicated […]
It’s hardly worth mentioning that the accomplishments of Bangladesh and Bangladeshis does not register within the international media. That is so, but for that one Bangladeshi, Muhammad Yunus, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Indeed, it happens that Dr. Yunus is fast friends with former President William J. Clinton. Without a doubt […]
What do some in the halls of power in Beijing make of U.S.-China relations? A recent op-ed penned for the China Daily by a scholar at the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, an influential government think tank that often sets the Party’s ideological bearings, suggests the emerging view that the U.S. has adopted a strategy […]
The Awami League government in Bangladesh is reaching out to all its neighbors for foreign aid and investment. Along with its recent moves to court the Indian government to fund development projects in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly will be seeking $3 billion in assistance from China during her 5 day state visit to […]
As the first year anniversary of the BDR Mutiny in Bangladesh approaches, the government is getting ready to charge over 800 members of the Border Guard with murder, arson, looting and hiding bodies in mass graves. As the Daily Star reports, “Investigators are now busy re-examining their findings, relevant documents and evidence on February 25-26 […]
The Awami League led government of Bangladesh is moving swiftly to institutionalize most of its governance and development plans in order to show that it can work transparently with its international aid donors. As the Daily Star reports: “The government has drafted 26 action plans including those for framing a new civil service act, dredging rivers […]
Thailand: This blog has followed the “Shinawatra Saga” in Thailand for awhile. Thitinan Pongsudhirak has an interesting editorial on the issues at OpinionAsia. Mr. Pongsudhirak contends that the core issue is not Shinawatra, but democracy and social justice. For this reason, he believes the Red Shirts (a.k.a. The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, UDD) […]
Bangladeshis today, and during the day past, celebrated Ekushey February, the commemoration of the events of February 21, 1952, when student protestors were killed demonstrating for the cause to retain Bengali as a state language in, then, East Pakistan. A quick rundown of the stultifying events of that day, which lasted only 30 minutes will help […]
On the occasion of Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian awards given to Bangladeshi artists and notables on commemoration of the Language Movement of February 21st 1952, Sheikh Hasina, encouraged Bengalis of all stripes and codas to make of Bangladesh a knowledge economy for the 21st Century. She encouraged artists, and poets to create […]
The Bangladeshi government is taking a strong stance against an influx of nearly U.S. $100 million for aid related to climate change from the U.K Department for International Development (DFID). At issue is the allocation scheme. DFID is passing along the money to Bangladesh through the World Bank, instead of allocating the aid bilaterally. The reason why […]
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