China’s role in Lanka’s economic crisis

The subject of Chinese involvement in Sri Lanka has been discussed several times and my letter in your issue of 12 March 2019 under the caption, ‘Is China Gaining Dominance Over Asian Region?’ showed how Sri Lanka had been trapped.

China’s modus operandi is to fund unproductive projects unlike other funding agencies which do independent feasibility studies and recommend certain measures to be taken by our government to make the project financially viable. This is done to safeguard the interest of the lending agency and the borrowing country. Some of the Chinese-funded projects are the Mattala Airport, the Sooriyawewa Sports Stadium and the Colombo Lotus Tower. When China funds projects, it also undertakes the construction and engages its own labour, materials and machinery, and thus the entire loan is used up by China to find employment to the Chinese. We are left to pay back the loan with interest for funds used by China.

Similar tactics have been adopted in other countries where China has funded unproductive projects and when the countries concerned fail to pay back loans, China takes over projects. A report from Delhi, in March 2019, stated that Kenya could lose the Mombasa Port to China along the lines of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and the International Airport in Zambia. Kenya has obtained a loan of US dollars 2.2 billion for the construction of a railroad from Mombasa to Nairobi and failed to pay back the loan. Several countries in Africa are facing the same problem.

In a way, China cannot be found fault with and the politicians of the country should be blamed for undertaking such unviable projects for obvious reasons.

The blame for the present economic, political crisis here should be apportioned to China, as pointed above.

Sri Lanka being placed in a strategic position in the world, India and the West are concerned. If China is genuinely interested in helping Sri Lanka at this hour, it should seriously consider restructuring the loans.

G.A.D.Sirimal

BORALESGAMUWA