This Is How China Got A Port It Could Use In Sri Lanka

The Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka.CreditAdam Dean for The New York Times

New York Times: How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port

HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — Every time Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, turned to his Chinese allies for loans and assistance with an ambitious port project, the answer was yes.

Yes, though feasibility studies said the port wouldn’t work. Yes, though other frequent lenders like India had refused. Yes, though Sri Lanka’s debt was ballooning rapidly under Mr. Rajapaksa.

Over years of construction and renegotiation with China Harbor Engineering Company, one of Beijing’s largest state-owned enterprises, the Hambantota Port Development Project distinguished itself mostly by failing, as predicted. With tens of thousands of ships passing by along one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, the port drew only 34 ships in 2012.

And then the port became China’s.

Mr. Rajapaksa was voted out of office in 2015, but Sri Lanka’s new government struggled to make payments on the debt he had taken on. Under heavy pressure and after months of negotiations with the Chinese, the government handed over the port and 15,000 acres of land around it for 99 years in December.

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WNU Editor: When it comes to China and money .... there are always strings attached. And for a country like Sri Lanka .... where almost all government revenues go to servicing its international debts .... they are especially vulnerable in being forced to "make deals". The Sri Lankan port in question .... to make any sense of it .... will eventually be used by the Chinese military, thereby breaking all of the agreements that Sri Lanka had made with its neighbors that it would not permit the militarization of the port. But Sri Lanka is not the only country caught in this trap. As the New York Times has revealed, there are numerous ports around the world that have been financed the same way.

Sri Lanka: Beijing’s Growing Foothold In The Indian Ocean

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (L)

From The Jamestown Foundation:

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government have received praise and accolades from several quarters after their triumph last month over the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). The total annihilation of this separatist group brought an end to a civil war that has lasted over two decades. The long civil war resulted in the deaths of 80,000 to 100,000 people and over 300,000 displaced (Indian Express, May 30; Internal-displacement.org, June 4). The Sri Lankan victory over the LTTE was made possible by military support from a number of countries who supplied weapons and platforms, training, intelligence and guidance to the Sri Lankan armed forces. In addition to providing military support, contributing countries also urged Colombo to seek a political solution to the Tamil problem. Of particular interest is Chinese political and military support to Sri Lanka in its fight against the LTTE.

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My Comment: This is China's way of collecting on the support that they gave Sri Lanka during their civil war with the Tamils. I am sure that India is not pleased with this growing military alliance in their "backyard".

Is China Funding Sri Lanka's War Against The Tamils?

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese President Hu Jintao met this evening at the Great Hall. Feb 27, 2007. Beijing. Sri Lankan First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa is also pictured (Photo from Colombo Page)

Chinese Billions In Sri Lanka Fund Battle Against Tamil Tigers -- Times Online

On the southern coast of Sri Lanka, ten miles from one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, a vast construction site is engulfing the once sleepy fishing town of Hambantota.

This poor community of 21,000 people is about as far as one can get on the island from the fighting between the army and the Tamil Tiger rebels on the northeastern coast. The sudden spurt of construction helps, however, to explain why the army is poised to defeat the Tigers and why Western governments are so powerless to negotiate a ceasefire to help civilians trapped on the front line.

This is where China is building a $1 billion port that it plans to use as a refuelling and docking station for its navy, as it patrols the Indian Ocean and protects China’s supplies of Saudi oil. Ever since Sri Lanka agreed to the plan, in March 2007, China has given it all the aid, arms and diplomatic support it needs to defeat the Tigers, without worrying about the West.

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My Comment: The answer is .... yes. The monies and resources that China is giving to Sri Lanka is many magnitudes greater than what anyone else is giving. This is a political/economic/and military alliance .... and one in which the West and India have been asleep at the wheel.

With the Sri Lankan civil war winding down .... expect China to be rewarded by the Sri Lankan Government for their assistance and cooperation during this time.