Sri Lanka - China : A lesson for others

Vikrant

Gold Member
Apr 20, 2013
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What China did to Sri Lanka should be a lesson for all smaller countries in the region.

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The Chinese company involved in the controversial US$1.4 billion Colombo Port City project has failed to furnish the necessary documents within the two-week deadline set by the new government, which is also reviewing other Chinese projects including a high-profile telecommunications tower, Sri Lanka's finance minister said yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Ravi Karunanayake also said President Xi Jinping surprised the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday when he said China would like to have India as an important component of regional cooperation.

Karunanayake, in Hong Kong for a day to address the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference before heading for the Boao Forum, said the row over the stalled Colombo Port City project should not deter Chinese investors as Sri Lanka is only trying to ensure a business-friendly and clean atmosphere by cleansing a system that had become "deeply corrupt" under the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"We are telling Chinese companies that we are keen to have clean, transparent accountable investment. Port City should not be the benchmark. There are serious problems with that project that we are trying to fix. It has nothing to do with our attitude to Chinese investment."

Promoted by state-owned and Hong Kong-listed China Communications Construction Co (CCCC), Colombo Port City has become a bone of contention between China and Sri Lanka. The new government headed by Sirisena, who defeated Rajapaksa in January's elections, put it on hold earlier this month alleging large-scale irregularities.

The finance minister maintained the company did not have the requisite clearance from the government and had failed to come up with the documents to show that it was given the go-ahead to start the project.

A top executive of CHEC Port City Colombo, a subsidiary of CCCC contracted to undertake all reclamation and infrastructure works for the project, had earlier told the Post on condition of anonymity that the company had submitted all documents on March 9. It was served the suspension notice and set a two-week deadline on March 6.

Requests for comment from CHEC failed yesterday.

President Xi had urged Sirisena to protect the legitimate interests of Chinese companies when they met on Thursday, Xinhua reported. Sirisena, according to the report, said the current situation with Colombo Port City is “temporary and the problems do not lie with China”.

Taking a dig at CCCC, Karunanayake said: "They run full-page advertisements in newspapers justifying their actions, but when we tell them to submit documents, they draw a blank."

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Sri Lanka fires fresh salvo at Chinese firm over Port City project South China Morning Post
 

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