Commenting on Sri Lanka’s diplomatic feat, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United Nations Dayan Jayatillaka said: ‘This is not a lesson that Sri Lanka taught the West. It is a victory. of the developing countries and the global south. It was not a defeat of the Tiger Diaspora alone. It was the defeat of a powerful bloc of forces. Geneva was a miniature diplomatic Dien Bien Phu or Bay of Pigs for the EU.’
The unfolding events earlier this year underscored the fact that Sri Lanka’s confrontation with the West, which has seen relations plummet to their lowest point since the 1970s, has had less to do with human rights and more to do with a fierce geopolitical struggle for influence. There is little doubt that Sri Lanka’s move to broaden relations with China and Iran, its rejection of Western demands in its internal affairs, the timing of its victory over the LTTE, and its acceptance in June 2009 as a Dialogue Partner to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) were crucial in influencing the West’s attempts to take punitive action against Sri Lanka — moves which served to further strengthen Sri Lanka’s relations with China.
GETTING COSY WITH CHINA
Sri Lanka has generally enjoyed cordial ties with China since relations were first established with the recognition of the People’s Republic of China in 1950 and the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact in 1952. Since then, and especially in the last decade, trade between the two countries has steadily expanded, culminating in the signing of a China-Sri Lanka Joint Communique in September 2005. This served as a benchmark for future expansion of the bilateral relationship, which Gotabaya Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, recently highlighted in Lakbima News. ‘The president went to China three times, I went five times,’ he said. ‘Sometimes, the president speaks to the Chinese premier by phone. We have set up good relations. We have understood who is important to us.’
These growing ties have benefitted Sri Lanka in a number of ways. For example, China was willing to supply arms to Sri Lanka at concessionary prices when India was restricted in the type of military assistance it could provide due to opposition from its state of Tamil Nadu. Also, China demonstrated an interest in investing in the development of Sri Lanka’s infrastructure by providing interest-free loans and preferential loans at subsidized rates.
As a result, Chinese aid and commercial investments have increased markedly throughout President Rajapakse’s term, notably the Hambantota Port Development Project (worth US$1 billion); Norochcholai Coal Power Plant Project (worth US$855 million); the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway (worth US$248.2 million) and the National Performing Arts Theatre (worth US$21.2 million). Indeed, from 2006 to 2008, Chinese aid to Sri Lanka grew fivefold, replacing Japan as Sri Lanka’s largest donor.
China, for its part, views Sri Lanka as a strategically vital gateway for securing access to shipping arterials in the Indian Ocean. Hambantota will be more than three times the size of Colombo harbour and is designed to serve as a Service and Industrial Port when fully completed, 14 years from now. It also has the potential to be developed into a major transhipment port. In addition, the port will be able to accommodate a new generation of mega-ships and is to include four terminals (12 berths), bunkering and refuelling facilities, liquefied natural gas refinery, aviation fuel storage facilities, bonded export processing zone and dry docks. The project is expected to generate more than 6000 jobs directly for the impoverished south of Sri Lanka, and another 50,000 indirectly in what is also President Rajapakse’s home constituency. As the main symbol of growing Sino-Lanka relations, the new Hambantota port (construction of which began in January 2008) will serve as a key transit point for oil and gas tankers accessing the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Malacca Straits and the ports of Gwadar in Pakistan and Sitwe in Myanmar. Hambantota will also serve as a key maritime transit point to China’s expanding investments among Indian Ocean island nations.
Reddit
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Technorati
Yahoo
Google
Plurk
N.P.Kandasamy
I wish that Sri Lanka can achieve any target now.As a Tamil man who lives in Sri Lanka I know how much this country has changed after the 30 year war.Now days there are no racism, nothing harmful.But the tamils who are living in other countries don’t understand this.Becouse they live in luxurious conditions and they knows only the things they see in Television.So how could they decide who’s telling the truth.I suggest all of the Tamils to visit Sri Lanka and see for yourself.Then you will understand than all the Europian media are brilliant liars.The tamils in sri lanka are happy more than ever.Don’t try to rob it away from them.If you really love tamils I suggest you help Sri Lanka to become the “wonder of asia”.Otherwise you’re nothing but a fake Tamil who don’t know, what is being a Tamil is all about.As tamil people we all should rally round Sri Lanka to make Sri Lanka “the wonder of asia”.Long Live Sri Lanka…..