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As China’s defence minister heads for Sri Lanka, should India be worried?
- Wei Fenghe’s visit follows trip by foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi and comes amid rising military tensions between Beijing and New Delhi
- But experts say Beijing’s real aim may be shoring up support for controversial Chinese projects, including Port City Colombo
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The Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe’s visit to Sri Lanka on Tuesday is as much about boosting political and economic cooperation as it is about military links, experts say.
Wei will become the second senior Chinese official to have visited the country since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic when he arrives for the three-day visit, which follows a trip by China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi in October 2020.
Wei is expected to hold talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and other senior officials. Wei is also to visit Dhaka.
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But while the visit is likely to raise hackles in India, which has been locked in a military confrontation with China along their disputed Himalayan border for the past year, experts say the timing suggests military issues might not be the main thing on Beijing’s agenda.
Wei’s visit is likely to coincide with a ruling by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Port City Colombo, a controversial Chinese-funded US$1.4 billion development project to be built on reclaimed land that opponents – who have lodged 19 petitions against it – say violates the country’s sovereignty, constitution and labour laws.
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The project is the latest in a string of Chinese investments in the country that some believe are aimed at gaining influence among South Asian nations and luring them away from India’s orbit.
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