China seeks influence in Indian Ocean through aid to Lanka: US congress report
July 7, 2011 04:10 pm
China, seeking to gain influence in the Indian Ocean, has reportedly increased its aid to Sri Lanka dramatically since 2005, a US Congressional report has said.
“In the view of some analysts and observers, China is seeking to gain influence
with the Sri Lankan government as part of a ‘‘string of pearls’’ naval strategy
to develop port access in the northern reaches of the Indian Ocean,” said the
report by bi-partisan and Congressional Research Service.
Indian defence planners are reportedly particularly concerned with Chinese
efforts to develop ports in the region, the eight-page rare report on Sri Lanka
said.
China is reportedly investing significantly in the development of a port in
Hambantota in Sri Lanka on the country’s southeastern coast.
“China is also reportedly helping to develop port facilities in Gwadar,
Pakistan; Chittagong, Bangladesh; and Sittwe, Burma. Colombo was also
reportedly upset with Western calls for a truce in the lead up to their defeat
of the LTTE in May 2009,” the report said.
It also said that Sri Lanka offers a test case of how to respond to a brutal
military victory over a violent ethnic nationalist separatist movement.
The report said that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has a firm hold on
government and popular support among the Sinhalese majority for his leadership
in presiding over a military victory over the LTTE in 2009.
“The government’s reluctance to seriously entertain notions that the Sri Lanka
army’s conduct was in any way suspect at the conclusion of the war raises
questions about whether public international condemnations of what appear to be
heinous war crimes can be effective,” it said.
It informed the lawmakers that the UN Security Council is unlikely to meet the
demands of the human rights bodies and several countries about the need to set
up an enquiry into war crime victims in Sri Lanka, because of the opposition
from two veto wielding members.
“The Security Council would have to request the ICC (International Criminal
Court) to investigate war crimes in Sri Lanka. Russia and China, as permanent
members, have veto power in the Security Council and are thought to oppose
formal Security Council involvement in the matter,” it said.
At the same time it noted that some have observed that a strong effort by the
United Nations and the international community to force a criminal
investigation into war crimes could be counter-productive as it would likely
further bolster Rajapaksa’s popularity on the basis of Sinhalese nationalism,
PTI reports.