India, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of the transshipment business in the Colombo port has raised concerns over increasing Chinese presence specially after the visits of two Chinese submarines to Colombo port in 2014.
The West including the United States has raised concerns over Chinese using the ports for military purpose. China has rejected such claims and said it’s deals with Sri Lanka are purely commercial.
“I think the Chinese issue has come up because of the privatization of Hambantota port.That is because the port was sold on the premise that we are unable to pay debts,” Jayasundera said.
China is scouting for a naval base on the west coast of Africa. In the near future, therefore, Chinese ships could be regularly patrolling off America s East Coast.
In recent testimony before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, General Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command, has been sounding the alarm.
At the moment, China s only offshore military base is in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa. The facility is near some of the world s busiest shipping routes, including those going through the Suez Canal.
Townsend believes the People s Liberation Army Navy is surveying locations on Africa s west coast, from Mauritania in the north to Namibia in the south.
Navigating Geopolitics: The Need for a Balanced and Nuanced Approach groundviews.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from groundviews.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Chinese planners are not only thinking of the continent [Africa], they are also eyeing islands in the Atlantic, specifically Terceira, one of the Azores. On that island, part of Portugal, there is a port and, of even greater interest, Air Base No. 4.
The Economics of the China-India-Sri Lanka Triangle Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
Sri Lanka’s relationship with China has been a controversial discussion during the last decade, dominating both domestic and international political conversations. The strengthening relationship between the island nation and the emerging global power has been largely economic. Yet it is quite clear that Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour, India, and the United States are diligently monitoring these developments in the China–Sri Lanka relationship.
China has been a major economic partner for Sri Lanka. Beijing’s assistance has been crucial in saving the poorly performing Sri Lankan economy during the last three years. At the same time, Sri Lanka is compelled not to antagonize India, its closest neighbour, with which Sri Lanka’s relationship runs deep and far back. The India–Sri Lanka relationship is vastly different than its ties with China.