The Beijing love affair

SRI LANKA: CHINA HAS COUNTRY IN POCKET WITH NEW LEADER SUPPORTING IT

Colombo

The unfinished, purple-headed Lotus Tower soars uselessly into the Colombo sky, mired in corruption allegations – a project typical of China’s misadventures in Sri Lanka under a political dynasty that has just returned to power.

With the Rajapaksas clan now back, Beijing will likely be too, experts say.

On Monday, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as president, almost five years after his brother Mahinda’s decade in charge ended in ignominy as allegations of corruption and nepotism surfaced.

Under Mahinda, who may become prime minister, Sri Lanka secured $7 billion (R103 billion) in loans from China, dislodging Japan as Sri Lanka’s main funder.

But many of the projects have proven to be white elephants [see info box].

Some of the money was allocated under Beijing’s gargantuan Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aimed at facilitating trade.

Western countries worry the

BRI conceals China’s efforts to expand its influence by loaning nations money only to acquire the assets when they cannot repay.

Hambantota port in southern Sri Lanka, situated on a key maritime trading route between Europe and Asia, is for critics a prime example.

In December 2017, Sri Lanka was forced to hand the port over to China on a 99-year lease after failing to service a $1.4 billion debt from Beijing to build it.

For the Rajapaksas, who spearheaded the brutal crushing of Tamil separatists in 2009 – with allegedly 40 000 civilians killed – China came in handy in other ways. “What the Chinese offered was also international diplomatic protection,” analyst Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu said.

After Mahinda Rajapaksa lost power in 2015, successive governments attempted to fix some of the projects.

Sri Lanka is also negotiating a fresh military cooperation deal with the United States.But these may now be in danger again with the Rajapaksas back in power.

Sri Lanka will again now “pivot more firmly into Beijing’s orbit”, Akhil Bery from think-tank Eurasia said. “China is its largest creditor, meaning a close relationship with China is inevitable.” –

Picture: Reuters IN CHARGE. Sri Lanka’s president-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves at his supporters as he leaves after the presidential swearing-in ceremony in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, on Monday.