by Eranda Wanigasekara
China has decided to buy marine products from Sri Lanka after the European Union (EU) adopted a resolution to consider withdraw the island nation’s access to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) concession.
Chinese demand will not be able to compensate for the losses incurred due to the restricted access to a bigger European market.
But it will give Beijing another chance to hold more influence in Sri Lankan affairs. Experts feel can be detrimental to Sri Lanka’s interest as failure in returning the Chinese favour came at a price in the recent past.
Sri Lanka lost a part of its sovereignty as China took over the Hambantota port due to failure in payment of the loan that was taken under the Belt Road Initiative (BRI).
Sri Lanka’s poor economy has become vulnerable following a reduction in tourism due to deadly 2019 Easter bombings and coronavirus-led lockdowns. In such a case, the loss of the GSP+ concession will wipe out the major market of the European countries for Sri Lankan items such as marine products, apparels among others.
The EU’s decision came in the wake of the recurrence of grave human rights violations in Sri Lanka. It wants Colombo to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
This has allowed China to gain confidence in Sri Lanka as an alternative to the West. And Beijing decision to buy marine products add to the sentiments in the country.China has been building infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka as per its terms under the BRI, under which basic details including project cost, loan structure and liabilities are kept hidden.
There are several BRI projects planned in Sri Lanka, which experts feel have the potential to turn the island country into a Chinese colony. Recently, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) bagged a contract to build a 17-km elevated highway on the outskirts of Colombo.
What is intriguing is the Chinese company will be the complete owner of the highway.
The CHEC build, operate the highway and own it for 18 years.It may be transferred to Sri
Lanka after earning principal cost and reasonable profits. It means the highway will remain a Chinese property for almost two decades.
The dependence of Sri Lanka on China has increased significantly in recent years, which saw it moving away from regional powers such as Japan and India.
Chinese loans to Sri Lanka have increased from 2 percent to more than 10 percent in just a decade, which is perhaps higher since BRI project details are not known clearly.
Sri Lankan opposition party SJB leader and legislator Harsha de Silva said the decision to award a highway contract to China will worsen the country’s relations with India and Japan.
“Starting with the ports, China’s influence now moves inland. From a geopolitical perspective, this shows Sri Lanka is moving to one
side and that is being pro-China,” he said.
Left stranded, Sri Lanka can become too vulnerable to Chinese tactics and thus end up losing more part of its sovereignty in case of loan default.Now, with assuring Sri Lanka with the purchase of marine products, China has not just alienated the island country from the international community but has tried to weaken its resilience power, observes think tank Centre for Political and Foreign Affairs (CPFA).
“China’s sudden interest in purchasing Sri Lankan fish is a clear indication that they challenge the West and barge in wherever the West warns countries of human rights
issues,” reads a report. “China tends to give no room for Sri Lanka to think on its own of prosperity but attempts to grab every moment to tighten its grip using the vulnerable situation Sri Lanka is, in fulfilling its ambitious
Belt and Road initiative to become the superpower rising from the East.”
The current Rajapaksa government tried to get control over the Hambantota port in 2019 by reversing the previous government’s decision
to lease the port for 99 years to China.
However, Sri Lanka apparently could not muster funds to pay back the loan as it will have to offer China it something equally, if not more, attractive in financial terms for Beijing to
agree to the cancellation of the lease agreement, said Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Center for Policy Research.
(The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect NewsWire’s editorial stance.)