The United States wants the people of Sri Lanka to be successful and sustained in development, but China has a very different vision, says US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.

He mentioned this speaking at the joint press conference held with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dinesh Gunawardena, today (28).

Pompeo says that the US seeks to strengthen our partnership with democratic, peaceful, prosperous, and fully sovereign Sri Lanka.

“A strong sovereign Sri Lanka is a powerful strategic partner for the US on the world stage. It can be a beacon for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

However, this is quite a contrast from what China seeks, he added.

“We see, from bad deals, violations of sovereignty, and lawlessness on the land and sea that the China Congress Party, as a predator. And the US comes in a different way. We come as a friend and as a partner.”

Further speaking, the US Secretary of State stated that they fully expect Sri Lanka will fulfill its pledges to take meaningful, concrete steps to promote accountability, justice, and reconciliation.

Pointing out that ‘great American companies’ such as Coca-Cola and IBM are here in Sri Lanka today Pompeo stated that they are the ‘most reliable partners on the planet’. They are accountable to the law, transparent, and are assets to the communities in which they operate, he added.

“Good governance, transparency, policy consistency will attract even more American investments as those principles are deeply consistent with Sri Lanka’s history, its heritage as the oldest democracy in Asia.”

Responding to a query made by a journalist, Pompeo said that the US wants Sri Lanka to have sovereignty and independence, be successful, and have sustainable development and that the ‘US as a friend and partner offers just exactly that’.

“We have a shared vision as democratic nations for free and open fishing lanes, the capacity to trade, for people to travel to wherever they want to go. These are the visions of the people of Sri Lanka share with the US.”

However, the Chinese have a very different vision, he stated.

“We want to make sure that the People of Sri Lanka have the capacity to execute their sovereign rights to remain independent, to have the freedom to hold the elections like that you all have held.

Those are the visions that democracies work on together, those are the visions that we share.”