Sino- Lanka relations

The winner of Sri Lanka’s upcoming presidential elections could change the nature of India’s relationship with its neighbour. India’s Buddhist neighbours, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, are preparing for fresh elections in the coming months. While Sri Lanka’s presidential elections are just around the corner, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi is preparing to face the electorate […]

FP Staff Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday opposed a Chinese-funded industrial park in the port city of Hambantota, threatening to scrap the deal once he returns to power. The statement comes days after 21 people were injured in a protest against the project, which many locals believe is a forceful takeover of […]

( Image: An 80% share of the Hambantota deep sea port will be transferred to China Merchants Holdings in order to allow development to continue. Image: Wade Shepard.) By Wade Shepard . Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe recently declared that his county is in the midst of a once in a lifetime opportunity to […]

Gauri Bhatia | Special to CNBC. Situated almost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, there is no escaping Sri Lanka’s centrality. The country lies just a few nautical miles away from the super-busy east-west shipping route, through which an estimated 60,000 ships pass every year, carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil and half of […]

(A worker looks on at the Colombo Port City construction site, which is backed by Chinese investment, Feb. 2. © Reuters) TOKYO — Sri Lanka has reversed its earlier decision and decided to allow Chinese investment in a port development project near its capital, Colombo. Situated off India’s southern tip, Sri Lanka serves as an […]

(The US$1.4 billion Colombo Port City project was shelved after Mahinda Rajapaksa lost power. Original photo: Reuters) In a significant move, China has dispatched a special envoy to Sri Lanka, where major Chinese investments are being reviewed since a Beijing-friendly president was ousted from power in January and a recent parliamentary election reinstated a national […]

By PTI Chinese official media asserted that “China cannot be avoided” because its ties with Colombo transcended “partisan politics”. | P.K.Balachandran BEIJING: As a sense of unease prevailed here over defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka’s Parliamentary polls blunting Beijing’s influence in the Indian Ocean region, Chinese official media asserted that “China cannot be […]

NEW DELHI – Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election this month promises to shape not only the country’s political future, but also geopolitics in the wider Indian Ocean region, a global center of trade and energy flows that accounts for half of the world’s container traffic and 70% of its petroleum shipments. The country’s strategic importance has […]

Sri Lanka is investigating a Chinese firm on suspicion of offering a bribe to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s failed presidential re-election campaign, a source close to the investigation said, weeks before he seeks to pull off a comeback in a general election. Ousted by erstwhile ally Maithripala Sirisena in January, Rajapaksa is now seeking to turn the […]

By Kadira Pethiyagoda. The changing fortunes for the two emerging global powers in Sri Lanka offer some interesting lessons. John Kerry’s visit to Sri Lanka, the first by a U.S. Secretary of State in 11 years, recognizes country’s geopolitical importance. It also highlights the outcome of the recent tussle over the island state by two […]

By Bhaskar Roy. When Sri Lanka’s new President Maithripala Sirisena recently visited China he was literally squeezed by the Chinese leaders not to review the Chinese investments and infrastructure projects in his country and secure Chinese interests. Sirisena had little room to manoeuere Sri Lanka is in a difficult financial situation. The International Monetary Fund […]

A public tribunal hosted by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Sri Lanka yesterday decided that the Port City project should be cancelled, as all benefits it may provide are outweighed by economic, social, environmental and political harm. “They (China Communications Construction Company Ltd.) simply say that there are no impacts. The economic, environmental and social harms […]

The media raised many questions about the future of the China funded Colombo Port City Project when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met them last week. When an editor pointed out that the Port City crisis could hamper the smooth relations between the two countries, Ranil explained, that as Sri Lanka was located in a strategic […]

By Col. R. Hariharan. Question: President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chinese visit is starting later today (March 25, 2015).  This visit comes after his government’s willingness to strengthen ties with neighbour India with leaders of the both countries visiting each other’s nation within a month and the suspension of Chinese aided Colombo port city reclamation project. How […]

[Chinese defence minister with President Rajapaksa] by Upul Joseph Fernando – The first official statement issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, after his defeat, appeared in the print media last week. The statement looked to be a sad note from the former President. He regretted that the present government was harassing him and his family […]

[Sri Lanka FM visits India: Image Credit: Narendra Modi via Flickr.com] India may be celebrating the election result in Sri Lanka, but China is in the region for the long haul. By Kabir Taneja- On January 18, a Reuters reported claimed that Sri Lanka’s now former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had expelled the station chief of […]

Kevin Sullivan – For Mahinda Rajapaksa, the now former president of Sri Lanka, last week’s stunning election defeat must be a bit of a head-scratcher. Having ended the country’s decades-long civil war against the Tamil Tigers in 2009, Rajapaksa was long believed to be one of the most secure leaders in Southeast Asia. In addition […]

Sri Lanka’s newly elected president Maithripala Sirisena arrives at the Election Commission office in Colombo on January 9, 2015 (Agence France-Presse photo) Ellen Barry, The New York Times– New Delhi:  On a Sunday four months ago, a vessel pulled unannounced into Sri Lanka’s Colombo harbor: the Chinese Navy submarine Great Wall No. 329, which is […]

[Colombo South Container Terminal] Sri Lanka’s Colombo South Container Terminal (CSCT) has been completed by a Chinese contractor without following the quality standards of construction stipulated in the contract, according to a revelation made by the consultancy company. Hong Kong based AECOM Consultancy Company has brought to the notice of Sri Lankan authorities that a […]

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is to build 18 naval bases in various regions in the next 10 years including in Sri Lanka, a media report said. The Namibian newspaper quoting Chinese media reports said Hambantota Port is among the three navel bases that will be established in the northern Indian Ocean. However Sri […]

By R. Sampanthan. MP– Sir, non-alignment has been the cornerstone of our Foreign Policy. It may be that there were times when we deviated from this policy, but that has been rare and has had its own consequences. Generally, we have been steadfast in our adherence to the policy of non-alignment. We have maintained an […]

Speaking to ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Sri Lanka, United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian and leading economist Harsha de Silva revealed that the Government was poised to sign loan agreements –amounting to a staggering US$1.258 billion (or Rs.164 billion) at a high interest rate — with China during its President’s visit. Dr. […]

[China provided monetary assistance to build Sri Lanka’s new Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport;File: EPA] Island nation has received $4bn since 2009 and critics warn that could mean greater dependence on China. Colombo, Sri Lanka – Since ending its civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka has become increasingly financially dependent on China, receiving an estimated $4bn […]

By Col. R. Hariharan– China’s President Xi Jinping has accepted a long-standing invitation from President Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit Sri Lanka sometime this year. The first-ever visit by a Chinese President to Sri Lanka will no doubt be hailed alas a crowning achievement for President Rajapaksa’s foreign policy which had been under siege for some […]

Sri Lanka stands to gain from the proposed Maritime Silk Route policy of the Chinese government as the island’s location puts it in a prime position to act as a hub for South Asia and link to Africa and the Middle East, the Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao has said. “We are confident […]

Fishermen’s organisations and boat owners in Kerala are wringing their hands over Sri Lankan government’s recent decision to let more than a dozen Chinese fishing vessels to operate under the island country’s flag under an arrangement called ‘distant water fishing’. The arrangement lets a country’s fishing fleet to scoop up marine wealth from another country’s […]

Foreign loans, grants committed in 2012: June 4, 2013, 8:34 pm China emerged as the biggest lender to the government of Sri Lanka with loans amounting to US$ 1,056.05 million in 2012 with additional grants amounting to US$ 0.16 million and India became the country’s biggest benefactor with grants amounting to US$ 257.28 million and […]