Beijing: in the grip of economic and political chaos Sri Lanka and the fall of Rajapaksa Experts have warned that the brothers, who have supported large-scale Chinese projects for more than two decades in the strategically located island nation, will have a “major impact” on Beijing’s close ties with Colombo in addition to investments.
Last week, thousands of angry protesters stormed the beleaguered president’s official residence Gotabaya Rajapakse and forced him to tender his resignation on Wednesday.
President Rajapaksa will resign on July 13, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeverdane said on Saturday night, while Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has already expressed his desire to resign.
With his elder brother and former prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse Lin Minwang, a South Asia expert from Fudan University in Shanghai, said resigning two months ago could also deal a blow to China-Lanka ties.
The latest political upheaval comes after months of protests over the financial crisis and would be a blow to China’s ties with the island nation, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Lin as saying on Tuesday.
The Rajapaksa family, headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades, was considered Beijing-friendly.
When Mahinda Gotabaya’s older brother was in power from 2005 to 2015, he opened up Sri Lanka, which is valued for its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, to large-scale Chinese projects including the Hambantota port, which China has spent 99 years on. received as part of the deal. In addition to the controversial debt-for-equity swap, the Colombo port project is being built on land reclaimed from the sea.
“In the short term, China’s relations with Sri Lanka will have a major impact as the Rajapaksa family’s influence in Sri Lankan political circles will diminish and a political return will be unlikely in the near future,” Lin said.
He said the crisis, driven by rising inflation, high debt and economic mismanagement, was also a “reminder” for Chinese investors looking to developing countries that are vulnerable to rising fuel costs, food shortages and rising US interest rates.
“I wouldn’t call this a lesson but it is a reminder that local governance capacity should be taken into account when investing abroad – especially when the overall international environment is not good and given that countries in South Asia generally have a debt ratio. But very high,” said Lynn.
“Chinese Investment” [in Sri Lanka] There will be some loss,” he said.
But Liu Zhongyi, a senior fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said Beijing has “maintained friendly relations not only with the Rajapaksa family but with every political party in Sri Lanka.”
“China is not leaning towards one faction or the other,” Liu said.
“That is why the previous Sri Lankan governments wanted to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with China.”
Lin also said that in the long term, Sri Lanka would be unlikely to move away from China, which is one of its biggest creditors and a major foreign investor in the country.
“There is no need to be too pessimistic about China-Sri Lanka relations, as there are inherent structural contradictions in Sri Lanka’s relations with India, and Sri Lanka really needs a country like China as a balance with India,” Lin he said.
China’s Foreign Ministry has said that China is closely monitoring the latest developments in Sri Lanka.
“As a friendly neighbor and cooperative partner, we sincerely hope that all regions of Sri Lanka can take into account the fundamental interests of their country and people and work together in solidarity to overcome the existing difficulties and Trying to restore stability, revive the economy and improve people’s livelihoods “as soon as possible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a media briefing here on Monday.
On Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Colombo asked Chinese citizens not to participate in or watch any protests after thousands of protesters stormed and occupied the Rashtrapati Bhavan and torched the private residence of Sri Lanka’s prime minister. .
The embassy issued a notice on Saturday, reminding Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka to pay close attention to the local security situation and comply with local laws and regulations, the official Global Times reported.
During the current crisis, China has provided more than $33 million in aid and recently sent a large shipment of rice, but the massive monetary aid sought by Rajapaksa and his pleas to postpone the repayment of Chinese loans not provided for obvious reasons.
Following the economic crisis, Sri Lanka also defaulted on foreign debt worth USD 51 billion, including Chinese debt.
For its part, the state-run Global Times said in its editorial on the Sri Lankan crisis on Tuesday that “the US and the West should not be too enthusiastic about the Sri Lankan crisis” adding that the crisis was not due to Colombo’s debt to Beijing.
“Sri Lanka is already scared and cannot bear the pressure and cost of becoming a geopolitical region. Several research reports have repeatedly demonstrated that Sri Lanka’s current debt crisis is not directly related to Chinese-funded infrastructure investments. China’s bilateral external debt is only 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total outstanding external debt.
“Western commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions are responsible for Sri Lanka’s foreign debt,” it said.
The “national bankruptcy” crisis facing Sri Lanka has inevitably resulted from global growth and governance deficits.
The regional security crisis exacerbated by the US and the West has deepened the global development crisis”, adding that the US and the West could “restrain their geopolitical impulses to engage in great power competition.”
Last week, thousands of angry protesters stormed the beleaguered president’s official residence Gotabaya Rajapakse and forced him to tender his resignation on Wednesday.
President Rajapaksa will resign on July 13, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeverdane said on Saturday night, while Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has already expressed his desire to resign.
With his elder brother and former prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse Lin Minwang, a South Asia expert from Fudan University in Shanghai, said resigning two months ago could also deal a blow to China-Lanka ties.
The latest political upheaval comes after months of protests over the financial crisis and would be a blow to China’s ties with the island nation, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Lin as saying on Tuesday.
The Rajapaksa family, headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades, was considered Beijing-friendly.
When Mahinda Gotabaya’s older brother was in power from 2005 to 2015, he opened up Sri Lanka, which is valued for its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, to large-scale Chinese projects including the Hambantota port, which China has spent 99 years on. received as part of the deal. In addition to the controversial debt-for-equity swap, the Colombo port project is being built on land reclaimed from the sea.
“In the short term, China’s relations with Sri Lanka will have a major impact as the Rajapaksa family’s influence in Sri Lankan political circles will diminish and a political return will be unlikely in the near future,” Lin said.
He said the crisis, driven by rising inflation, high debt and economic mismanagement, was also a “reminder” for Chinese investors looking to developing countries that are vulnerable to rising fuel costs, food shortages and rising US interest rates.
“I wouldn’t call this a lesson but it is a reminder that local governance capacity should be taken into account when investing abroad – especially when the overall international environment is not good and given that countries in South Asia generally have a debt ratio. But very high,” said Lynn.
“Chinese Investment” [in Sri Lanka] There will be some loss,” he said.
But Liu Zhongyi, a senior fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said Beijing has “maintained friendly relations not only with the Rajapaksa family but with every political party in Sri Lanka.”
“China is not leaning towards one faction or the other,” Liu said.
“That is why the previous Sri Lankan governments wanted to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with China.”
Lin also said that in the long term, Sri Lanka would be unlikely to move away from China, which is one of its biggest creditors and a major foreign investor in the country.
“There is no need to be too pessimistic about China-Sri Lanka relations, as there are inherent structural contradictions in Sri Lanka’s relations with India, and Sri Lanka really needs a country like China as a balance with India,” Lin he said.
China’s Foreign Ministry has said that China is closely monitoring the latest developments in Sri Lanka.
“As a friendly neighbor and cooperative partner, we sincerely hope that all regions of Sri Lanka can take into account the fundamental interests of their country and people and work together in solidarity to overcome the existing difficulties and Trying to restore stability, revive the economy and improve people’s livelihoods “as soon as possible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a media briefing here on Monday.
On Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Colombo asked Chinese citizens not to participate in or watch any protests after thousands of protesters stormed and occupied the Rashtrapati Bhavan and torched the private residence of Sri Lanka’s prime minister. .
The embassy issued a notice on Saturday, reminding Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka to pay close attention to the local security situation and comply with local laws and regulations, the official Global Times reported.
During the current crisis, China has provided more than $33 million in aid and recently sent a large shipment of rice, but the massive monetary aid sought by Rajapaksa and his pleas to postpone the repayment of Chinese loans not provided for obvious reasons.
Following the economic crisis, Sri Lanka also defaulted on foreign debt worth USD 51 billion, including Chinese debt.
For its part, the state-run Global Times said in its editorial on the Sri Lankan crisis on Tuesday that “the US and the West should not be too enthusiastic about the Sri Lankan crisis” adding that the crisis was not due to Colombo’s debt to Beijing.
“Sri Lanka is already scared and cannot bear the pressure and cost of becoming a geopolitical region. Several research reports have repeatedly demonstrated that Sri Lanka’s current debt crisis is not directly related to Chinese-funded infrastructure investments. China’s bilateral external debt is only 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total outstanding external debt.
“Western commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions are responsible for Sri Lanka’s foreign debt,” it said.
The “national bankruptcy” crisis facing Sri Lanka has inevitably resulted from global growth and governance deficits.
The regional security crisis exacerbated by the US and the West has deepened the global development crisis”, adding that the US and the West could “restrain their geopolitical impulses to engage in great power competition.”