Lanka President Dissanayake's next week visit to Beijing of great importance: China

BEIJING: China on Friday termed the upcoming three-day visit of Anura Kumara Dissanayake as significant as the Sri Lankan president seeks to balance ties with Beijing weeks after his India visit.

Dissanayake will pay a state visit to China from January 14 to 17 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced here on Friday.

Another Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a media briefing: “The upcoming visit will be Dissanayake’s first visit to China after taking office, and is of great importance to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations.”

A host of issues, including permitting Chinese “research vessels” regarded as spy ships by India; Sri Lanka’s debt commitments to China, stated to be Colombo’s largest creditor, and expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investments are expected to figure in Dissanayake’s talks with Xi.

Earlier, during his visit to India in December, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dissanayake assured New Delhi that Colombo would not permit the island nation's territory to be used “in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India,” in an apparent reference to China.

Dissanayake, once a bitter critic of India while appreciating India’s assistance during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, chose India for his first visit abroad.

During the visit, Dissanayake will hold talks with President Xi and also meet Premier Li Qiang.

“Since our two countries established diplomatic ties in 1957, the bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape, always maintained sound and steady growth, and set up a fine example of friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries different in size,” he said.

China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka through the upcoming visit to deepen political mutual trust, and expand high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and practical cooperation in various fields for continuous new progress in advancing the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership, he said.

For China, which expanded its strategic ties with Sri Lanka during the pro-Beijing leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickramasinghe with the acquisition of Hambantota port for 99 years’ lease as a debt swap followed by the development of Colombo Port City project, Dissanayake is a new generation leader representing new realities of his island nation.

After a severe economic crisis, Sri Lanka announced its first sovereign default of its debt of about USD 46.9 billion, over 50 per cent owed to China.

As the island nation went bankrupt struggling with little or no foreign exchange, India stepped in with about US four billion assistance enabling the country to stage a slow recovery and later qualify for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package.

During the crisis, China sent food grains but refrained from responding to Sri Lanka’s requests for extending large monetary assistance and calls for debt restructuring.

After protracted negotiations, China has recently reached a deal with Sri Lanka to restructure its USD 4.2 billion debt.

The economic and political crisis propelled Dissanayake, heading the leftist Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), into prominence leading to massive victories for his National People’s Power (NPP), both in Presidential and Parliamentary polls last year and also largely changed Sri Lanka’s strategic policies towards China.

Earlier, after talks with Modi on December 16, Dissanayake had said in a statement in New Delhi, “I assured the Indian leader that Sri Lanka will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability.”

He said Sri Lanka “attaches great importance to the continuous development and deepening of cooperation with India.”

This assurance was seen in the backdrop of India’s concerns over recurring visits by Chinese research vessels visiting Hambantota port, which New Delhi said aimed at monitoring its missile and space programmes.

As a result of India’s concerns, Sri Lanka had imposed a one-year moratorium on foreign research vessels visiting its ports which ended last month.

Soon after Dissanayake's return from India, a senior Chinese official Qin Boyong, vice-chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met him and said, “There are plans to restart maritime research activities, which were temporarily halted for various reasons.”