We find that the friendly relationship between China and Sri Lanka is no longer sincere and genuine. China has worked to damage the friendly relations with the countries that have supported Sri Lanka in the past. The goodwill and friendship between Sri Lanka and China dates back to BC. Pahiyan monk in China has explained that in his travel notes. In any case, in such an environment, China unhesitatingly supported Sri Lanka in any questionable situation faced by Sri Lanka internationally. Also, Sri Lanka also stood up for China at all times.
Thus, the China-Sri Lanka friendship of many decades and centuries entered a sad path in the last 20 years. That is, with the start of the ‘One Belt One Road’ international project based on the need to strengthen China’s foreign policy and economic strategy, the friendly relations between the two countries became a bitter reality.
It is sad that the friendly relationship between the two countries has been used for China’s journey to become a world power at the risk of the lives of the people of this country. The peace of the region and the world is currently collapsing through China’s attempt to become a world power, and therefore the people of Sri Lanka have also become its victims…’
What is this very serious Sri Lanka-China story? It was exactly one year ago that we came to know the real facts. That is, at the beginning of 2022, these facts were revealed in a special article written by President’s counsel Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapaksa, a member of parliament of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna who was in the government at the time and currently holds the position of a cabinet minister in this government.
He wrote this document and addressed it to the current President of China, Xi Jinping. He had submitted this document to the Chinese President about the current reality of Sino-Sri Lankan relations. This article was presented with very strong reasons and included almost 45 aspects to this. Let’s take a look at some other things it highlighted.
China has worked to damage Sri Lanka’s friendly relations with India, Japan, South Korea, America, England, Australia and other European countries, which have been supporting this country for a long time. Although an estimated 580 million US dollars was presented for the construction of Hambantota port in 2005, the total amount paid for it is 1,285 million US dollars.
Although Sri Lanka had previously obtained loans from international lending organisations and countries at interest rates of 1% or less, the Hambantota port project was implemented for the first time by obtaining loans at interest rates exceeding 6%. Taking such high-interest loans is due to Chinese companies offering excessive commissions to certain parties in order to complete these transactions.
Similarly, the Sri Lankan government at that time implemented huge projects like Hambantota Port, Mattala International Airport, Norochchole Coal Plant, and Colombo Nelum Tower by taking excessive loans. But only Norochchole power plant was a useful project. By giving loans for huge projects, China trapped Sri Lanka in a debt trap.
Therefore, they also worked to manipulate Sri Lanka’s economy as required by China. China’s aim was to turn Sri Lanka into another battlefield on its efforts to becoming a world power. At that time, the government did not call for tenders for large projects and awarded such tenders to China itself. I was even deprived of my cabinet minister position because of my opposition to the Hambantota exploration…’
The letter written to China’s President Xi Jinping while dealing with the regime is a truly controversial letter. Why was information written about that article which also includes facts about China and Hambantota is important today? Because, it is part of another latest Chinese story that I heard a few days ago.
A few days before this, news released by the current government was once again about a new big project that China is ready to start in Hambantota. During the past 03 years, we did not hear many stories from China. Maybe it is in the face of the Corona epidemic and the economic crisis. Also, perhaps due to the period, there were strong people’s struggles with in the country.
The news is that a massive oil refinery aimed at export will be built in Hambantota with Chinese investment. This massive Chinese project is currently undergoing preliminary work. This news sparked a lot of debate in the country over the last few days, with many parties debating the transparency of such a project. That is, the question was whether the Sri Lankan and Chinese governments were credible in carrying out this work. As a result, despite the fact that discussions on this topic have been ongoing since last year, they have recently concluded.
On February 24, 2023, the Ministry of Power and Energy decided to implement this project on the basis of ‘Built, Own and Operate’. The government planned to install an export-oriented petroleum refinery and related product processing centre in the Hambantota area. Thus, the government called for tenders to find suitable investors for the project. 05 foreign countries and one Sri Lankan company submitted their bids for this purpose.
The 06 companies that bid were as follows.
I. China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) in China. This is known as ‘Sinopec’ in Sinhalese.
II. Vitol Group of Singapore Pvt.
III. Malaysia Petrichor Capital Sdn Pvt.
IV. Grant and Shearer Company of Nigeria.
V. Matin Tejarat Co. of Iran. Ltd Company.
VI. Dandeniya Engineering and Trading Company of Sri Lanka.
The above 06 companies had submitted their bids. Out of these companies, except for two foreign companies, all the other 04 companies were declared not eligible for the tender. In other words, it was revealed that China’s ‘Sinopec’ is in first place among these tenders. Although a final decision has not yet been taken to award this tender to China, it is said that China will be the lucky one. According to the Minister of Power and Energy, the Technical Evaluation Committee and other procurement committees will conduct evaluations and issue Requests for Proposals to eligible applicants.
These companies were instructed to submit a relevant company profile, annual progress reports for the last three years, a preliminary project proposal and progress and experience reports of similar projects. Also, documentary evidence of the company’s financial capacity and managerial expertise demonstrated by experience in implementing similar projects in the past were also relevant for this procedure. This was a complicated process.
In this context, some survey has been done both domestically and internationally about the 06 companies that submitted tenders for the above export petroleum refining project. Many important facts have been learned there. A unique fact that has been found here is that the company called Grant and Shearer, which has submitted a tender from Nigeria, has now stopped its business activities.
Browsing the internet, we find that such a company is established in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. The names of its owners and other heads can also be found there. This Nigerian company has been exporting various minerals and metals from Africa for some time. An internet survey conducted by our ‘Mawrata’ newspaper also found that the company is not currently engaged in any trading activity.
Also, it was found that the company was not engaged in petroleum business at any time. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the National People’s Force, recently said about this situation that the address of the Nigerian company a slum street in Lagos. He said that some public and private parties who have been stealing money from Sri Lanka are planning to rob Sri Lanka’s resources again using fake addresses.
It has been revealed that Petrichor Capital Sdn of Malaysia, does not currently have proper financial assets. That is, according to an international survey, it has been revealed that they have very little money of around 55,000 pounds. The other secret fact that has been revealed here is why a company with so little wealth submitted a tender.
In the meantime, Iran’s Matin Tejarat Company is said to have no experience in the petroleum sector, although it imports various materials widely. Also, the company Marka Invest has experience in the land and property sector, but they have no understanding of petroleum affairs.
This is where the turning point of the story comes. That is, China’s SINOPEC and Singapore’s Vitol Group have been recognized as two qualified companies to own the above project.
However, the government parties of Sri Lanka have declared that China’s SINOPEC is the most qualified thus suitable.
This is where the parable of ‘the bull trying to eat the coconut plant’ comes to mind. Accordingly, the current government they will give this project to the Chinese company. Another long discussion was recently held here between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and SINOPEC Chinese representatives in this regard.
The Sri Lankan consultant related to this company had recently given a statement to a foreign media without revealing his identity. There he said that for this project, the Sri Lankan government will give his company a large land of 1.6 square kilometers near the Hambantota International Port. Also, this project will produce 100,000 (one lakh) barrels of petroleum per day.
Although Sri Lanka used to obtain loans from international lending organizations and countries at interest rates of 1% or less, for the first time the Hambantota port project was implemented by obtaining loans at interest rates exceeding 6%. Taking such loans at high interest rates is because Chinese companies give excessive commissions to certain parties to compleae such transactions.
Sri Lankan government at that time implemented huge projects like Hambantota Port, Mattala International Airport, Norochchole Coal Plant, and Colombo Nelum Tower by taking excessive loans. But only the Norochchole power plant was a useful project. By giving loans for huge projects, China trapped Sri Lanka in a debt trap.
Therefore, these also worked to manipulate Sri Lanka’s economy as required by China. China’s aim was to turn Sri Lanka into another battlefield on its efforts to becoming a world power. At that time, the government did not call for tenders for large projects and awarded such tenders to China itself.
The Sri Lankan consultant related this company had recently given a statement to a foreign media without revealing their identity. There they had said that for this project, the Sri Lankan government will give the company a large land of 1.6 square kilometers near the Hambantota International Port. Also, this project will produce 100,000 (one lakh) barrels of petroleum per day.
The Chinese company SINOPEC is a 23-year-old state-owned company fully owned by the Chinese government. Here, the income in 2022 alone had been 483 billion US dollars. They have their projects in many countries of the world and the total number of employees is said to be 3, 74,791. This company deals only in the field of petroleum and gas. Today, China has once again taken the fortune to plunder our resources. After few years, the Chinese red dragon is again extending its claws and devouring the resources of Sri Lanka.
