Realizing the great effort “of the Indian government in supporting Sri Lanka, China on Wednesday expressed his willingness to work with India and the international community to help Sri Lanka Tide over the economic crisis that destroyed it.
In the media briefing held in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian outlines the new Chinese government’s humanitarian assistance with a total of 500 million RMB (around $ 73 million) to Sri Lanka. “We also note that the Indian government made a big effort in this aspect. We recognize that, and we are willing to work with India and other international community members to help Sri Lanka and other countries with difficulty in helping these developing countries through this situation, “he said.
China’s official recognition of India’s assistance to Sri Lanka-a total of $ 3.5 billion this year through currency exchange, loan delays, and credit pathway, came in the middle of a famous geopolitical contest between two forces in Sri Lanka. Earlier this year, China expressed disappointment over Colombo to replace the Chinese energy project proposed on three islands on the North Jaffna Peninsula with the Indian project. “Interrupting the project that was won through a competitive offer process [supported by the Asian Development Bank] did not send a good message to foreign investors who saw Sri Lanka,” the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo told the media in March. Echoing sentiments on Wednesday, Chinese officials observed: “We believe Sri Lanka will also work actively to protect legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors and partners, and also uphold stability and credibility of financing and business environment.”
China is one of the two top bilateral creditors Sri Lanka, together with Japan. Chinese loans, however, form around 10% of the island’s external debt dominated by market loans that contribute almost half of the total foreign loans. In April 2022, Sri Lanka decided to make a previous default for all of his foreign debt around $ 50 billion to overcome the foreign exchange crisis that made the country without dollars to pay imports that were even important.
Following Colombo’s announcement about the default debt, the Chinese institutions “immediately discussed with Sri Lanka to complete the debt correctly”, said Zhao, expressed hope that “Sri Lanka will work actively with China to discuss appropriate settlement”. Furthermore, China is “ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to assist Sri Lanka in handling the current situation and easeing the burden of debt to achieve sustainable development,” said the official, in the midst of speculation in Kolombo for the possibility of Chinese response against China against debt
Pandemi, China extended $ 2.8 billion in assistance for Sri Lanka. But Colombo has increased concerns because it cannot access swaps, which depend on Colombo which shows adequate foreign reserves for three months. “We do not have a foreign exchange reserve for three months since the loan was taken … We have asked the Chinese government to consider removing the condition from the agreement that has been signed with them,” said Mr. Wickremesinghe told parliament on Wednesday.
