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Milestone deal and BRI ties mark President’s China visit success
View(s):By Chandani Kirinde
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake wound up his four-day state visit to China and returned on Friday night having secured several agreements, including a US$ 3.7 billion deal with China’s state oil giant Sinopec to build a refinery in Hambantota.
Hailing the Sinopec agreement as a “significant milestone,” the President’s Media Division (PMD) pointed out that it was the country’s largest single foreign direct investment.
During his visit, President Dissanayake held talks with China’s President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and other senior officials. This was the President’s second state visit overseas, the first being to India in December last year.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake with Ma Yongsheng - Chairman - Sinopec Corp
Advancing Belt and Road cooperation and practical cooperation between China and Sri Lanka figured prominently during the talks, with the two sides agreeing to advance all major signature projects, including the Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port. The two sides also agreed to sign a Belt-and-Road cooperation plan to upgrade China-Sri Lanka cooperation and jointly open up new space for win-win development.
The two sides also expressed the desire to continue maritime cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual trust, openness, and mutual benefit, and hold regular bilateral consultations on maritime affairs. They also agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on ocean cooperation toward a blue partnership.
Closer maritime cooperation with China is a thorny diplomatic issue for the government, given the concerns raised by neighbouring India. The emphasis placed by China was to deepen cooperation in such fields as conservation and restoration of the marine environment and ecosystems, maritime domain awareness, maritime rescue and disaster relief, and maritime personnel training and capacity building, and pool their strength to build a maritime community with a shared future.
This was in contrast to the joint statement issued after the President’s India visit, where the two countries underscored the common challenges they faced in the Indian Ocean Region and reaffirmed their commitment to work together in countering traditional and nontraditional threats and in ensuring a free, open, safe, and secure Indian Ocean Region.
At the Mao Zedong Mausoleum
Nilanthan Niruthan, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Security Studies (CLASS), explained that Sri Lanka’s pledge of maritime cooperation with China during the President’s visit would not be viewed with much concern by India as long as the Chinese research vessels stay out of Colombo.
“India talks of security cooperation while China’s emphasis has been focused on the maritime environment and related issues. This is fine as long as the Chinese research vessels don’t call over at the Lankan ports,” Mr. Niruthan told the Sunday Times.
The year-long moratorium on foreign research vessels visiting Lankan waters ended on December 31.
The Sri Lanka-China joint statement touched on the subject of security cooperation as an important component of bilateral cooperation, with the two sides pledging to jointly crack down on cross-border crimes such as telecom fraud and online gambling.
“China is ready to do its best to support capacity building in Sri Lanka’s judicial, law enforcement, and security areas and provide assistance of police supplies,” the joint statement said.
The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to jointly upholding the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
The other areas where China will extend assistance include the health, education, culture, and arts sectors. The two sides signed cooperation documents in the areas of agriculture, tourism, livelihood assistance, media, and other areas.
Like previous Sri Lankan leaders to visit Beijing, President Dissanayake reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s strong commitment to the one-China principle, recognising that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, with Taiwan being an inalienable part of China’s territory. Sri Lanka reiterated its firm support for all efforts by the Chinese government to achieve national reunification while opposing “Taiwan independence” in any form.
Sri Lanka also reaffirmed that it would never allow its territory to be used for any anti-China, separatist activities while China reiterated that it would continue to firmly support Sri Lanka in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and will respect and support Sri Lanka in independently choosing a development path suited to its national conditions.
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