The Indian media reported last week that the Chinese ship Shi Yan 6 is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on January 5. The media reported that India has protested the arrival of this ship to the Sri Lankan government. Sri Lanka knew that this ship was to come to Sri Lanka even before the Chinese ship Shi Yang 6,left China and arrived in Sri Lanka in October last year. In September, President Ranil was informed by the US not to allow the ship Shi Yan 6 to arrive in Sri Lanka. After that, Foreign Minister Ali Sabri stated that considering India’s concern, the Sri Lankan government has not allowed the ship to come yet. He said that an SOP (Standard operation procedure) system is being prepared for international ships coming to Sri Lanka, and Chinese ships will not be allowed to come to Sri Lanka until it is prepared.
Later, the government planted news in the media that the approval of the ship had been postponed until November. China has requested permission to visit in October, but the media reported that the government has decided not to grant permission in October. In the meantime, the government unofficially informed the US that the Chinese ship couldn’t come due to the monsoon in November. Amid all this talk, the Chinese ship arrived in October. After that, Foreign Minister Ali Sabri said that SOP will be prepared for the upcoming ships.
Before the arrival of the Chinese ship, the Ministry of Defense said that it had requested permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to allow the ship to arrive. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was looking at the decision of the Ministry of Defence. While the ministry was passing the ball to each other in this way, the ship arrived.
The truth is that these ships cannot enter Sri Lanka unless the Sri Lankan government grants permission. With permission, Chinese ships arrive. The Sri Lankan government is well aware that if Chinese ships are allowed to dock in Sri Lanka, India and the United States will protest. They allow it knowingly. When the United States and India protested, they avoided mentioning the SOP system. This demonstrates that the Sri Lankan government is engaging in geopolitical manoeuvring with Chinese ships. Ranil is an expert at this game.
Ranil is aware that Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to return home following the arrival of Chinese submarines in Sri Lanka in 2014. Immediately after becoming President, Ranil faced stiff opposition from the United States and India due to the Chinese ship Yuan Wang’s visit to Sri Lanka. Regardless of the pressures, Ranil allowed this ship to dock. As soon as he became president, Ranil won China’s favour by allowing the ship Yuan Wang to visit Sri Lanka.
The letter to restructure the debt was given to Ranil by China. Following that, when Shi Yan 6 was permitted, Ranil negotiated the debt restructuring agreement with China and got the second IMF tranche.
It is not known whether he demonstrated new Chinese ships would not be allowed to Sri Lanka to the America, India and Paris club and obtained the second tranche.
If this is the case, he could not have permitted the ship to arrive. According to government-aligned media, there will be a moratorium on international ships because this year is an election year.
It’s a wonderful story that the government is asking China for a debt moratorium and then putting a moratorium on Chinese ships. China began sending these ships to Sri Lanka for treasure hunts in pursuit of the treasure of the first admiral’s ships that sailed to Sri Lanka in 1411, However now, Chinese ships appear to have become a treasure hunt for Ranil.
