The Chinese had made their viewpoint known to Bangladesh on any dialogue with “The Quad”:
The image captured from the website of the U.S. Department of State shows spokesman Ned Price speaking in a press briefing at the State Department in Washington on May 11, 2021. (Yonhap)
A U.S. State Department spokesman rebutted a Chinese diplomat’s warning for countries to stay away from the U.S.-led regional forum, Quad, on Tuesday, saying the Quad is an informal but essential mechanism to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Ned Price made the remark after the Chinese ambassador in Bangladesh, Li Jing, said in a statement that the South Asian country should not join the Quad or its relations with China will “substantially be damaged.”
“We have taken note of that statement from the PRC ambassador to Bangladesh. What we would say is that we respect Bangladesh’s sovereignty and we respect Bangladesh’s rights to make foreign policy decisions for itself,” the department spokesman said in a press briefing.
Here is another example of how North Korea is really a “Soprano State” and why every country should be hesitant to have a DPRK embassy in their country:
Bangladesh authorities have seized a luxury Rolls-Royce Ghost car illegally brought into the country for a former North Korean diplomat expelled for smuggling.
Customs intelligence chief Moinul Khan said Han Son Ik intended to bring in the car without paying duty due to his diplomatic status and sell it on to a local buyer. Officials said the luxury car would have been liable for import duties of more than 800 percent had it been brought in legally.
Han was first secretary of the North Korean embassy in Dhaka until he was expelled in August after being accused of smuggling more than a million cigarettes as well as electronics worth half a million dollars.
“We had intelligence that Han made a deal with a local buyer to bring the person a Rolls-Royce with Han’s diplomatic immunity, therefore he attempted to evade customs tax,” Khan told AFP. “Han has been marked as a frequent offender.” AFP was unable to contact the North Korean embassy for comment.
In March 2015 a North Korean diplomat was forced to apologise after he was caught at Dhaka airport trying to smuggle nearly 27 kilograms (60 pounds) of gold worth $1.7 million into the country. A North Korean restaurant in Dhaka was shut down the same year after officials found it was selling wine and drugs such as Viagra without permission. [The Indian Express]
One Free Korea makes a great recommendation in this Tweet:
