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SL permits Chinese ship to dock despite Indian concerns

01 Aug 2022

  • Naval vessel to dock at Hambantota Port from 11 - 15
  • TNA says SL should not accentuate India’s legitimate defence concerns by providing space for Chinese military presence
BY P. Waravita The Defense Ministry said yesterday (31) that the Yuan Wang 5, a Chinese naval vessel, will dock at the Hambantota Port on 11 August, amidst concerns raised by India.  “They had requested security clearance awhile back and we did an assessment and gave them the necessary clearance. The ship will be at the Port from 11 August to 15 August for replenishment,” a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry told The Morning.  “There are Indian, Japanese, Russian, US, and Korean ships too that come here for replenishments and other purposes. We do have a question of why India has raised an issue about this particular instance,” the spokesperson noted.  On 23 July, Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka Director Yasiru Ranaraja tweeted that the “Chinese scientific research vessel” will arrive in Sri Lanka for a week for replenishment purposes. “It could conduct satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region,” he said.  China plays an important role in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery as the Government seeks a financing loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the US-based fund said last week that Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China.  “China is a big creditor, and Sri Lanka has to engage proactively with it on a debt restructuring,”  IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department Director Krishna Srinivasan, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday (26). However, The Hindu reported that Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a media briefing last week, in response to reports about the ship, that the Indian Government “carefully monitors any development having a bearing on India’s security and economic interest and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them”. “I think that should be a clear message,” he added.  However, Reuters later reported that the China’s Foreign Ministry had responded to questions about these concerns by stating that “China hopes that the relevant parties will view and report on China’s marine scientific research activities correctly and refrain from interfering with normal and legitimate maritime activities.” Commenting on these tensions between the two Asian superpowers, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) political party tweeted: “We do not take sides with regards to power struggles between other countries. But we have also consistently stated that China’s military presence in the Indian ocean would give India a legitimate defence concern and that Sri Lanka should not accentuate that by providing space for Chinese military presence in Sri Lanka.”  


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