Sri Lanka ended its 26-year civil war in 2009 in desperate need of infrastructure construction to boost economic development and improve people's living standards. But its request for assistance was turned down by everyone except China.
The same China that is so good at financing infrastructure that the St. Louis Fed calls its infrastructure investments 'a free lunch' whose ROI is 200%-300%.
Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said that reports calling Hambantota a failure because it drew only 34 ships in 2012, don't mention that the number increased to 335 in 2014 and the port made an operating profit of Rs. 900 million ($5.69 million) in 2014 and Rs. 1,200 million in 2015.
China can steer freighters to Hambantota just as it did to Piraeus, increasing its sailings 400% in six years. So chill.
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It is unfortunate that half-truth is camouflaged as truth. Hambantota Port is a case study for how things evolved after the gruesome terrorist conflict ended.
Once terrorism was defeated by Mahinda Rajapakse (MR), he had invited India to build the port. India was not keen on such an investment. Enter China realizing Sri Lanka’s strategic location’s importance, agreed. China also was the leading country along with Pakistan materially assisted winning the war on terrorism, where USA and India had been helping MR behind the scenes on different fronts including intelligence and banning terrorist affiliates world-wide. China was willing to play a frontal role, and also strategically establishing closure ties with MR’s government. There is nothing wrong with external actors maneuvering plays on chess board of geo-strategies. Even though the media finger-points at MR, it is current Western leaning RW government who has signed 99 year lease with proposed 15000 acres of land to China.
It is Sri Lankan leadership who must have a balanced strategic approach viable for tactical and long-term economic planning while elevating democratic values, enforcing rule of the laws as defined by judiciary and law makers. Unfortunately different actors are attempting to muddy the waters. Hambantota Story is a great example of systematically altered narratives masquerading as truth, nothing but the truth. There is an awful resemblance of …. Remember Cambridge Analytica?
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It is very easy to type some thing cloaked in respectability while sitting in a western country. But the ground reality in Sri Lanka then under the Rajapakshes and now is quite a different tale. The very reason why the former president won the war is due to his brutal and thuggish rule which succeeded in out doing his opponent in the whole sale slaughter of human beings journalists included. It is child's play for such a government to engage in the corrupt the port deal where the actual cost was inflated to cover up the bribes and kickbacks given to the Rajapklashes. Sri Lanka is actually not just repaying the loans at high interest but also the kickbacks built into the loans. These brutish regime even after it was ousted continue to harass and manipulate the media including social media as can be seen by the reaction to the original NYT article. That is the reality. So somehow try to blame the current new government for leasing the port back to China is a very disingenous slanted attempt at media manipulation.
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Very sad to see Sri Lanka surrender ports to China. Very deceitful actions by former President to sell the soverignity of Sri Lanka to China for cash.
Reminds me that the British came to India too as businessmen and ended up killing Indians and taking over ports in Calcutta and Madras.
Wake up Sri Lankans. Put those politicians in jail right away before China rules you.
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Australia 'surrendered' its strategically most vital port, Darwin, to Chinese management, too, so relax.
The only ports China 'controls' are in China.
Outside that, it has agreements to operate ports for other countries because it's good at operating ports–but it has no 'control' over them and is a minnow compared to big operators like Dubai Ports and Singapore's PSA International.
Here are some of the ports that PSA International'controls':
Singapore
Singapore
Thailand
Laem Chabang
China (gasp!!!!)
Dalian
Fuzhou
Guangzhou
Tianjin
Dongguan
Lianyungang
Qinzhou
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Yes, inciting to shoot the messenger has becoming quite the international rage. God's speed to all of you doing this job.
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I find it terrible that people who contributed to research are threatened, when the author is alone responsible for putting things together, and in this case for putting together a narrative based almost entirely on fake news.
What is the narrative? Rajapaksa has driven the country into debt, and China has used this situation to get control of territory in Sri Lanka over which Sri Lanka has got no more sovereignty, and Sri Lankan officials have got little control over Chinese intimidation, e.g. Chinese submarines docking in Colombo Port. All fake news.
Under Rajapaksa, central government debt as %-age of GDP decreased from 102% in 2003 (a high level) to 71% of GDP (a reasonable level), an impressive achievement. Under the new government Sirisena (since 2015), it has increased again to 78% of GDP; in addition GDP growth has decreased, and now Sirisena's officials try to blame Rajapaksa for their problems.
All the fear mongering about Chinese submarines doing what they want and China "controlling territory" over which Sri Lanka has got no more "sovereignty" is also fake news. Land ownership is totally unrelated to sovereignty.
I have got no reason to doubt the allegation of Chinese contributions to Rajapaksa's electoral campaign in 2015, but the author forgot to mention that such contributions are legal in Sri Lanka, and the new government did nothing to change this. But nobody at the NYT reacts to corrections. That's a fact. NYT in a post-fact era? Expect more from me.
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@Otto-
Our mafias here, legal and illegal, do the same; legally, by instigating lawsuits filed simply to bankrupt offending journalists, or through payoffs and threats (as Michael Cohen, Trump’s Cleaner, his “Mr. Fix-It”, can attest), or illegally, through terror and murder. As in Mexico. Russia. Most of Eastern, Southern Europe, North and sub-Saharan Africa; the entire Middle East; South and Central America; South and Southeat Asia; Philippines; China. The norm, not the exception wherever criminals control legislatures, government bureaucracies, even the administration of justice itself.
There, and even here. Don’t assume for a moment that it can’t happen here, hasn’t happened in the past or isn’t happening now. Trump’s incessant, often vicious attacks on reporters and news organizations that don’t slavishly kowtow to him like Fox News does, that don’t repeat the official Party line like Sinclair Broadcasting does, or don’t spike stories that document the massive corruption of his administration and the squalidness of Trump himself are meant to cripple independent journalism itself, an exercise in the consolidation of power.
1
Wonder how Indian Govt is quiet on this
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Sadly successive Sri Lankan governments have excelled in the art of corruption. Rajapakse raised it to a new level. China has a presence and a strategic location in that part of the world , having given Sri Lanka millions in aid. And that aid, like those from other major world powers always comes with conditions. The surprising thing is that locals merely shrug their shoulders when asked about these things. Corruption is common at all levels of society. The Chinese merely raised it to over 30000 feet!!!
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My first thought when reading this: a little scary, kind of like Trump cabinet officials being accosted at a restaurant or Trump’s press secretary being denied service.
1
I hope that these journalists are sufficiently protected for exposing corruption in Sri Lanka. They are courageous and if they are hurt in any way, the Sri Lankan government must be held accountable. Threatening journalists is unacceptable in any country.
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The New York Times must be responsible for the safety of these journalists and their families.Please protect them.
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When fake news (by NY Times and others) get blasted out by global wing of the western business geopolitical establishment, the leaders and the people of the world has every right to defend themselves legally.
It maybe that establishment is caught out in the western world by ordinary peoples, they are still involved in the internal of affairs of the developing world. And we the people in these developing nations will fight your schemes and lies in the people of the western world has done so.
You have right to spread lies in the guise of freedom of press and we have the legal right to fight you in all the courts of the world.
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Nipun, you give us a Trump-level response: all bombast and indignation and no facts.
Maybe you could tell us what the Times got wrong, and how you know it is. That would be useful.
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Did China receive this port or was that fake?
5
Nipun: Your post/reply is really not much of a reply to the main points of the article and factual points made. How exactly is it that China ended up with 99 year lease on a port in Sri Lanka? Supposedly an unprofitable port? Why would China make such a foolish investment? Or is it really so foolish? If it was profitable, why wasn't the Chinese "loan" repaid? And who exactly profited from all that? Or do you think it was all just a result of some unfortunate miscalculations, coupled, perhaps, some malice, but only on the part of the people describing the whole affair? Thrashing around and saying you (apparently representing some
injured group...) have the right to disagree is almost comical. What part of all that do you disagree with? I personally think the people of Sri Lanka probably have the government they deserve. I find the Times report amusing, because the whole affair is a Trump-worthy fraud, and the Chinese played the Sri Lankans for fools (so sorry for them). Not sorry.
3