OPINION: China expanding clout in Sri Lanka’s politics, after dominating economy

Abstract

The impending general elections in Sri Lanka, which are scheduled to be held on August 5, present a significant trajectory of power politics in the Indian Ocean region that features China’s expanding dominance. As the election campaign heats up in the island nation, the political parties have no dearth of domestic issues to discuss and debate. But what observers are interested most in are the strategic investments and foreign policy decisions that dominate the election campaign and shape the domestic political discourse. This very pattern exemplifies the role of Sri Lanka in catalysing strategic power projection by the major regional players in the Indian Ocean in the coming years.

‘Mask’ diplomacy

“China and Sri Lanka are true friends sharing weal and woe.” This is an excerpt from an official statement by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka while declaring its donation of 3,00,000 face masks to the island nation as part of China’s mask diplomacy amid COVID-19. The pandemic has rejuvenated the Sino-Sri Lankan engagement through consistent aid diplomacy from the Chinese side. China has granted $500 million as a concessionary loan upon request from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa apart from sharing the COVID-19 combat experience with the Sri Lankan authorities. China is the only country that has created a COVID-19 emergency fund as part of its COVID-19 aid initiative. Sri Lanka was also included in Jack Ma’s COVID-19 aid package along with a few south and Southeast Asian countries. Interestingly, the US and EU pledges of assistance came much later, and the Chinese aid had already started flowing by then.