{"id":49908,"date":"2016-11-26T18:51:47","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T22:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=49908"},"modified":"2016-11-26T18:51:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T22:51:47","slug":"mahinda-rajapaksas-china-visit-is-a-message-from-beijing-to-both-colombo-and-new-delhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=49908","title":{"rendered":"Mahinda Rajapaksa’s China Visit is a Message from Beijing to both Colombo and New Delhi."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan <\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a week-long visit to China on the invitation of the Chinese government \u2014 a development that sections within the government and diplomatic circles here see as a \u201cstrong message\u201d from Beijing.<\/p>\n

The visit assumes further significance in the wake of controversial remarks made by Yi Xianliang, the Chinese Ambassador to Colombo, that pointed to apparent tensions between the Sri Lankan government and Beijing. <\/p>\n

At a press conference here, Mr. Yi asked why Colombo sought more loans from Beijing if it found them \u201cexpensive,\u201d as the Sri Lankan Finance Minister had observed. While the Chinese Foreign Ministry defended the envoy, Sri Lanka\u2019s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera met Mr. Yi and \u201cadvised\u201d him to take up such matters through Foreign Ministry channels rather than the media. <\/p>\n

A top source here, requesting anonymity, said that the incident \u2014 which was \u201cuncharacteristic\u201d of Chinese diplomacy \u2014 coupled with Mr. Rajapaksa\u2019s trip to China, was a clear message from Beijing. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot just to our government, but also to New Delhi,\u201d the senior official said, referring to competing strategic interests that the two powers are known to have in the island nation. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mr. Rajapaksa, during his two terms in office, was widely perceived as being close to Beijing. With Chinese loans, he built a massive port and airport in the southern city of Hambantota, which the current government has termed financially non-viable \u201cwhite elephants.\u201d <\/p>\n

This invitation points to a public display of support, observers noted, weeks after pro-Rajapaksa actors floated a new political party and invited him to lead it. It also comes about a month after his brother and former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa travelled to China to attend a defence seminar. <\/p>\n

The former President\u2019s political ally and Democratic Left Front Leader Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that by \u201cinviting the former President, the Chinese government has shown how much they value the relationship with the former President and appreciate his political stature.\u201d<\/p>\n

When contacted, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Mr. Rajapaksa was on a \u201cprivate goodwill visit\u201d on the invitation of the Chinese People\u2019s Institute of Foreign Affairs, a state-backed think-tank. \u201cPresident Rajapaksa made positive contributions to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations during his term of office. The Chinese side appreciates what he has done for the friendship between the two countries,\u201d the Ministry told The Hindu. <\/p>\n

Ahead of his departure, Mr. Rajapaksa told editors of select local newspapers that India had adopted a softer line with the new government though it had \u201csold the Hambantota port to the Chinese.\u201d <\/p>\n

Recalling the incident involving Chinese submarines that had docked at Colombo harbour in 2014, when he was in power, he said: \u201cThey [New Delhi] made a big issue about the submarines, but today even if you give the entire port [to China], it is not a problem for them [India]. This shows the difference in diplomatic relations.\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Last month, Sri Lanka said it would sell 80 per cent of the $1.5-billion port in the southern city of Hambantota to a Chinese company to tackle the country\u2019s debt burden. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a week-long visit to China on the invitation of the Chinese government \u2014 a development that sections within the government and diplomatic circles here see as a \u201cstrong message\u201d from Beijing. The visit assumes further significance in the wake of controversial remarks made by …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa’s China Visit is a Message from Beijing to both Colombo and New Delhi.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49909,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49908\/revisions\/49909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}