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China stirs Indian den in Sri Lanka’s North after envoy’s visit 

01 Jan 2022

  • Chinese envoy’s unprecedented visit welcomed by Northern fishermen
  • Analysts see Qi Zhenhong’s visit as signal to work with Tamils within culture
  • China has been eying projects in northern Sri Lanka for a long time
  • Zhenhong provides compensation for fishermen hit by Indian bottom trawling
  • Minister Douglas says SL won’t get caught in geopolitical war between China and India
By Shihar Aneez  When China took 10 Sri Lankan Tamil language journalists who predominantly cover former war zones of North and East in October 2017 for a “familiarisation tour”, officials in Beijing expressed their willingness to step in for investments in what is usually considered as the Indian den in the island nation. At one point during this trip, a prominent Beijing official had asked the journalists through Tamil-speaking Chinese interlocutors why Sri Lanka’s Northern Tamils are resisting Chinese investments in the former war zones. He noted that both China and India almost equally backed the Sri Lankan Government in ending the 26-year war and questioned what made China be considered different from India. One of the journalists in the group had said: “India is a democracy. So it has its own limitation in not backing violence against Tamils. But China is a Communist nation and it could have easily stood against violence against Sri Lankan Tamils during the final war. But it never stood for that and it never spoke on that.” However, Beijing’s clear message for the select journalists on this trip was “we will be there in the North soon along with our One Belt One Road (OBOR) project”. Four years after this trip, China for the first time grabbed international attention by its Colombo envoy visiting Jaffna and the northernmost notch of Sri Lanka in Point Pedro and asking: “How far is India from here?” Turning out as a hindu devotee  Ambassador Zhenhong made his visit significant by visiting the historic Jaffna Nallur temple clad in dhoti with bare upper-body, similar to a typical Hindu devotee. He also visited the historic Jaffna library – including the Indian Corner inside the library, and distributed Rs. 20 million worth dry rations and crab nets to fishermen who have lost their catch due to Indian bottom trawling. “This is only the start, the first phase,” Zhenhong promised fishermen, referring to compensation. He also donated five laptops to the Jaffna library, 10 desktops and tables along with printers to the Mannar District, and a water purification machine for each district in the Northern Province, two government officials said. Zhenhong’s Nallur temple visit is also significant, local sources said, because the opportunity could not be obtained by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi because the blessing was not available when he visited Jaffna. “It was such perfect timing by the Chinese Ambassador,” a political analyst said, asking not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue. “Nobody expected him to come in wearing a dhoti and bare upper-body. Through his visit to Nallur temple and other areas in the North, China signaled that it is ready to work on the people’s livelihood while respecting the culture.” Four years’ worth of effort Insights into Chinese activities in Jaffna reveal that Beijing has started initial moves four years back with a sea cucumber hatchery in the Ariyalai coastal area. The idea was to popularise sea cucumber farming among Northern fishermen who lost their fish catch due to Indian bottom trawling. As of last week, this hatchery, which was also visited by Ambassador Zhenhong, had produced over 170,000 juvenile sea cucumbers for fishermen who have now started small sea cucumber farms in both Jaffna and Kilinochchi Districts. Sea cucumber fishing is banned in India, but it is priced $ 1,000 per kilogramme (kg) in some parts of the world. The protein-rich food is used for dishes in China. China’s sea cucumber farming efforts are expected to improve the livelihood of fisherfolk in Sri Lanka’s North. Sources in Jaffna said there are already more than 500 requests to open new sea cucumber farms. Analysts say that the move is expected to strengthen economic relations between Northern people and China due to sea cucumber export. Four years after starting the hatchery, China is now diversifying its efforts for a strong foothold in Sri Lanka’s North which is considered India’s backyard. And for its efforts, China has selected fishermen whose livelihoods are affected by Indian bottom trawling, a very sensitive issue for both India and Sri Lanka. “Chinese Ambassador said that this is only the first phase. He promised to give more,” Fisheries Minister and Jaffna District MP Douglas Devananda said.  “We will get help from anybody who wishes to help us. My first priority is India, but we do not want to get caught in between geopolitical issues and we will never backstab anybody,” Devananda commented from his party office in Jaffna. Before the Chinese Ambassador’s unprecedented visit, the stance of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Government on Chinese power projects in the Northern islands near India and refusal to pay for an organic fertiliser consignment Sri Lanka had ordered had hurt the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. The Chinese Embassy in Colombo on 29 November stated: “China Sino Soar Hybrid Technology, being suspended to build hybrid energy system in three Northern islands in Sri Lanka due to ‘security concerns’ from a third party, has inked a contract with the Maldivian government on 29 November to establish solar power plants at 12 islands.” With the Chinese Ambassador’s Northern visit in December, government sources said that Chinese dignitaries who visit Colombo are now also expected to visit the North. Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi who is scheduled to pay an official visit to Sri Lanka on 8-9 January is also likely to visit the North, a source said. When asked if India has any concerns over the Chinese Ambassador’s visit to the North, an official spokesman at the Indian Embassy in Colombo said it had no comments regarding activities and engagements of other diplomatic Missions in Sri Lanka. “India and Sri Lanka share a millennia-old, multi-dimensional relationship which stands on its own. India’s long-standing, people-centric development co-operation with Sri Lanka, including in the Northern Province, is too well-known to need any reiteration,” the official said. Security concerns Government sources said security concerns were raised by India, and Sri Lanka cannot afford to do anything related to the Indian Ocean’s security in line with the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. A Chinese firm early in 2021 won competitive bids to build the power plants, but the final approval was not given at the time. Later India came up with a $ 12 million grant for similar renewable energy projects in the North, before a decision to grant $ 100 million credit line for renewable energy projects. Sri Lanka was also forced to pay for the Chinese organic fertiliser shipment which was earlier referred to by Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage as “contaminated fertiliser”. The Chinese entry into the North also comes at a time Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in recorded history. It owes billions of dollars to China, other countries, and those who have bought its $ 13 billion worth sovereign bonds. Before diplomatic relations were soured with Sri Lanka, China was considered as the island nation’s credit card for any amount of loan with hardly any negotiations unlike with India or any other democratic nations. Many analysts said Sri Lanka is caught in an aggravating Indo-China cold war on Sri Lankan soil because of successive government policies of using the rivalry for its own benefit. Many people in the North said that they welcome the Chinese help in establishing sea cucumber farms and compensation for fishermen hit by Indian bottom trawling. “We still consider Indians blood brothers, but when it comes to the fishermen issue we can’t reject China,” said a fisherman who is now struggling with his livelihood because he does not have much fish to catch in the northern sea, for which he blames Indian bottom trawling. Fisheries Minister Devananda said China had also expressed its interest in constructing the Point Pedro harbour. India had likewise expressed its willingness to develop the harbour. When asked if the entrance of China into the North is a concern because the Province is dominated by Indian projects, Devananda, referring to the compensation for fishermen said: “This is not us giving a base for them. This is humanitarian aid. We will not go against Indian interests.” Economic intervention Sri Lanka’s vulnerable economic situation has left it depending on all countries now. The island nation’s $ 81 billion economy is facing a debt crisis and foreign exchange shortage and the situation is aggravating because the Government has been looking to address the issue temporarily.  It had been looking to borrow through several methods including from India, China, and Middle Eastern countries through loans and swaps to manage an impending crisis. That makes it more vulnerable to lose its bargain power when negotiating loans. Given the controlled security in the North, analysts said that it is hard to believe that the Chinese movement was done without the Government’s blessings. On one hand, the Government is humble to seek India’s help to address its economic crisis and dollar shortage. On the other hand, it also allows China into the Indian den to hit a nerve – i.e. fishermen issue of Indian bottom trawling.  Last week, the Energy Minister had to eat his own words of taking back oil tanks from Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) subsidiary – Lanka IOC (LIOC). Instead he announced the extension of the lease agreement for 14 tanks operated by LIOC for another 50 years. He further stated that 61 tanks will be jointly developed by the newly established Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd. and LIOC, with 51% shares being held by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). That shows Sri Lanka is desperate for foreign inflows now, which gives a huge advantage for China.  “If India wants an ally for the Indian Ocean long term then India must give deferred interest $ 10 billion loan to the Rajapaksa government now or face China getting one more junior partner (sic),” Subramanian Swamy, Indian Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Cabinet Minister under Modi’s BJP government as well as a close ally of the Rajapaksa family said in his Twitter feed. “The Modi government has failed in so many foreign policy issues. Let not Sri Lanka be another.” Lessons unlearned Sri Lanka had already paid a heavy price for the war with over 80,000 lives and still remains a developing country which once late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wanted to emulate in the 1960s due to its own political incapability and intervention from other nations. The relationship with India soured when then President J.R. Jayewardene’s administration got close to the US in late 1970s. India feared that J.R. could give Sri Lanka’s strategically located natural Trincomalee Port to be used as a naval base for the US military due to his close relationship. This was the time when India and the US were at loggerheads because of the US' alliance with China and Pakistan. Sri Lanka had earlier agreed to give the Trincomalee oil tank farm development project to India at that time because of India’s fear that the original bidders, a Singapore firm, had links to the US. Jayewardene’s decision in 1981 to lift the nine-year-old ban on foreign warships in the Trincomalee harbour was seen as a major threat to India’s hegemony in the region, particularly because the US was the first to send warships to the port for refueling. India feared that the Trincomalee harbour would be covertly converted into a US naval base if it did not put pressure on Sri Lanka to give up the Singapore firm’s offer. This, along with 1983 ethnic clashes and attacks against Tamils, and growing agitations in South India pressuring the Tamil Nadu-led then Indira Gandhi administration, led to Sri Lankan Tamil youths receiving foreign training in South India. Now the order has changed. India and the US are allies, while Pakistan and China are in the rival group. The consequence of Sri Lanka assuming that it could take advantage of this rivalry would be a very negative one. After the civil war started, J.R. wanted India itself to resolve the conflict and that led to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) stepping in Sri Lanka’s North after the controversial 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. Sri Lanka’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and leftist political parties were against the deal. Most of them saw the Indian move as a clear intervention into Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. They saw the move as India’s continued suppression of Sri Lanka through further strangulation, instead of apologising for inflaming the civil war or at least an expression of regret. The accord gave birth to the 13th Amendment of Sri Lanka’s Constitution. India has been consistently, both during and after the war, asking Sri Lanka to resolve the Tamil issues based on the 13th Amendment. This Amendment is to give more powers to Provincial Councils by reducing the central government’s powers. Sri Lanka seems to be now moving to a situation which was seen under J.R. administration if the Chinese entry into the North is seen as a security concern for India, a former diplomat said. Sri Lanka’s failure to provide a solution for the North and East had also created a breeding ground for intervention by many countries, he further said. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran said the power devolution could be the real solution to face the increasing Chinese influence in the North and East. Responding to an Indian television interview, Sumanthiran said the higher officials in the US directly asked him if the US helped Tamils for a political solution, how could it help to “oust China”, when he went to the US recently. “If the power devolution is ensured in a proper manner, we will stop the Chinese gaining a foothold in the North and East,” was the response Sumanthiran gave the US. “The rights of lands and law and order should be included in the power sharing. This is included as per Constitution, but not practically implemented. If we get a meaningful power devolution, we will definitely stop Chinese foothold in our land. “Until these rights are with the Government, even we cannot stop the Chinese coming to North and East. If India promptly acts on ensuring these rights in power sharing, not only China but any other country that opposes India will not be allowed,” Sumanthiran further commented. (The writer is Head of Training at Centre for Investigative Reporting [CIR] Sri Lanka. He could be reached at shiharaneez@gmail.com or via Twitter @shiharaneez. The opinions expressed in this article reflect those of the writer, and not necessarily those of the publication.)

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