Maldives set to pull out of ‘lopsided’ free trade deal with China, says presidential adviser
- After less than a year, nation of 400,000 people wants out of ‘one-way’ treaty
- New president says debts to China have piled up and state coffers ‘looted’
The Maldives’ new government will pull out of a free trade agreement with China because it was a mistake for the tiny nation to strike such a pact with the world’s second biggest economy, the head of the largest party in the country’s ruling alliance said.
It is the latest sign of a backlash against China in the Maldives, known for its luxury resorts on palm-fringed coral islands.
“The trade imbalance between China and the Maldives is so huge that nobody would think of a free trade agreement between such parties,” said Mohamed Nasheed, the chief of the Maldivian Democratic Party, which leads the ruling federal alliance. “China is not buying anything from us. It is a one-way treaty.”
On Saturday, as he took office, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih declared the state coffers had been “looted” and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders.
Abdullah Yameen, who lost the presidential election in September, signed the agreement during a visit to Beijing in December last year, and the same month his parliament ratified the treaty despite opposition protests that he had rushed through the 1,000-page document in less than an hour without debate.