COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – China announced Sunday that it will offer a $90 million grant to Sri Lanka, two days after the president of the island nation requested the participation of a visiting Chinese delegation to refute the belief that China-funded megaprojects are “debt traps. “
Describing monetary aid as a “timely subsidy,” the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said it would be used for medical care, education and water in rural Sri Lanka and would “contribute to the well-being of (Sri Lankans) in a post-COVID era. “
The announcement arrives friday in the island country of the Indian Ocean through a Chinese delegation led by Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party Politburo and former foreign minister.
In talks with Yang, Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called on China to refute the belief that the Chinese-funded mega-projects are “debt traps” designed to gain influence in local affairs.
China sees Sri Lanka as a key link in its large “Belt and Road” global infrastructure initiative and has provided billions of dollars in loans for Sri Lankan projects over the past decade. Projects include a seaport, an airport, a port city, roads and forcing plants.
Critics say that the Chinese-funded projects are financially viable and that Sri Lanka will have a hard time repaying the loans.
In 2017, Sri Lanka leased for 99 years a port built by China near sea routes transited to a Chinese company to avoid the heavy burden of repaying the Chinese loan the country earned to build it.
This facility is part of Beijing’s plan for a line of ports ranging from Chinese waters to the Persian Gulf. China also agreed to provide a $989 million loan to Sri Lanka for the structure of a road linking its central tea-producing region to the Chinese port.
China has expanded its presence in Sri Lanka, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the older brother of the current leader, who is now prime minister, held separate talks with Yang on Friday.
China’s economic influence in Sri Lanka worries its nearest neighbor, India, which sees the Indian Ocean region as its strategic backyard.
Yang’s comes days after the most sensitive diplomats from 4 Indo-Pacific countries (the United States, Japan, India and Australia) met in Tokyo to strengthen their participation in a regional initiative called “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” to counter China’s growing assertiveness. . in the region.
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