Deputy Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), Sun Haiyan, recently met with Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, at Temple Trees in Colombo.
The meeting was attended by several key officials, including high-ranking representatives from the IDCPC, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong, and staff from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka. On Sri Lanka’s side, the delegation included Minister of Women and Child Affairs Saroja Paulraj, Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee Hemali Weerasekara, Member of Parliament Samanmali Gunasinghe, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputanthri, and Director General of East Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ruwanthi Delpitiya.
In a related context, we previously reported on Sun Haiyan’s involvement in a secretive trip to China by Anura, a Sri Lankan political figure, last December. While Anura had traveled abroad several times in the past two years, his trip to China was kept undisclosed. Unlike his other travels, no media coverage emerged regarding this visit. The necessary arrangements for this trip were facilitated by Sun Haiyan, a senior official in the Chinese government.
During the trip, Anura held discussions with Chinese authorities, seeking support for his party should it assume power in Sri Lanka. Sun Haiyan later met with Anura in Sri Lanka at the JVP office in Pelawatte. During their conversation, she presented Anura with a confidential proposal outlining potential Chinese support, including significant assistance for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Haiyan suggested that China could potentially send up to 10 million Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka within two years, though this would be phased in gradually due to infrastructure constraints.
As a result of these talks, Anura sought to leverage this offer during his presidential campaign. Following his election, he engaged with Chinese officials to secure further support. In response, China committed to sending 3 million tourists to Sri Lanka in the upcoming tourist season, with plans to increase this number to 6 million by the next season. This support is seen as a crucial element in Sri Lanka’s tourism revival strategy and has been widely regarded as a powerful diplomatic move by China.
