{"id":79023,"date":"2022-08-16T00:36:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T04:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=79023"},"modified":"2022-08-16T21:35:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T01:35:02","slug":"chinas-satellite-tracking-vessel-yuan-wang-5-arrives-at-sri-lankas-southern-hambantota-port-on-august-16-despite-india-and-the-u-s-voicing-concern-with-colombo-over-the-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=79023","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 arrives at Sri Lanka\u2019s southern Hambantota Port on August 16 despite India and the U.S. voicing concern with Colombo over the military ship\u2019s visit."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan and Ananth Krishnan<\/strong><\/p>\n

China\u2019s satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 on August 16 arrived at Sri Lanka\u2019s southern Hambantota Port, despite India and the U.S. voicing concern with Colombo over the military ship\u2019s visit. Hours after the vessel reached the Sri Lankan port, China said the \u201cmarine scientific research\u201d activities of the vessel were \u201cconsistent with international law\u201d and did not impact \u201cany other country\u2019s security interests\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to Colombo-based official sources, both India and the U.S. had conveyed their apprehensions to the Sri Lankan Government at the highest level, citing the vessel\u2019s \u201cmilitary capabilities\u201d while in the Indian Ocean Region. Apparently addressing the concerns, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on August 16 said, \u201cI want to stress again that the marine scientific research activities of the Yuan Wang 5 ship are consistent with international law and international common practice. They do not affect the security and the economic interests of any country and should not be obstructed by any third party.\u201d<\/p>\n

China earlier slammed New Delhi\u2019s apprehensions as \u201cunjustified\u201d and \u201cmorally irresponsible\u201d, and \u201curged\u201d New Delhi to \u201cnot disturb normal exchanges\u201d between the two countries. New Delhi \u201crejected insinuations\u201d that Sri Lanka was pressured.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Although the vessel\u2019s arrival was deferred by a few days subsequent to Colombo\u2019s request, the ship will be docked at Hambantota for a week as was earlier planned. \u201cIt will take some time for the Yuan Wang 5 research ship to complete the replenishment of necessary supplies,\u201d Mr. Wang said at the daily briefing in Beijing.<\/p>\n

China, he said, is ready to work with Sri Lankan side to \u201cconsolidate political mutual trust, deepen win-win cooperation and promote sound and steady development of bilateral relations\u201d. Sri Lanka has maintained strong ties with China over the years. Colombo recently said it firmly backs the \u2018One China Policy\u2019, and asked countries to \u201crefrain from provocations\u201d, just after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi\u2019s controversial visit to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Further, the Sri Lankan Government is counting on China to help in the island\u2019s efforts to restructure its external debt, to be eligible for crucial IMF support amid an agonising economic downturn. Chinese loans account for about 10% of Sri Lanka\u2019s total foreign debt.<\/p>\n

China extended about $2.8 billion to Sri Lanka soon after the pandemic hit but has not stepped in much this year, even as the island\u2019s economy collapsed rapidly. Beijing, which announced a $74 million grant in May, is yet to respond to Colombo\u2019s request for bridge financing, reportedly totally $4 billion. India has extended about $3.8 billion this year to help Sri Lanka cope with its economic crisis.<\/p>\n

Responding to a query on Chinese assistance, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said, \u201cWe feel deeply for the economic and social difficulties that Sri Lankan side is currently facing. For quite some time, we have been providing active support to Sri Lanka for it to overcome the difficulties. That is what we did and what we will continue to do.\u201d A team of Sri Lankan MPs and Chinese officials were present at the ceremonial welcome to the vessel on August 16. \u201cLong live China and Sri Lanka friendship,\u201d a red banner held by the crew on the upper deck of the vessel read.<\/p>\n

The Chinese vessel arrived in Sri Lanka a day after India gifted a Dornier marine surveillance aircraft to the island nation to \u201cenhance\u201d its security capabilities.<\/p>\n

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

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

By Meera Srinivasan and Ananth Krishnan China\u2019s satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 on August 16 arrived at Sri Lanka\u2019s southern Hambantota Port, despite India and the U.S. voicing concern with Colombo over the military ship\u2019s visit. Hours after the vessel reached the Sri Lankan port, China said the \u201cmarine scientific research\u201d activities of the …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘China\u2019s satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 arrives at Sri Lanka\u2019s southern Hambantota Port on August 16 despite India and the U.S. voicing concern with Colombo over the military ship\u2019s visit.’ »<\/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\/79023"}],"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=79023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79024,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79023\/revisions\/79024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}