While we all are aware of what happened earlier in the Hambantota Port of Sri Lanka, well, for those who aren’t aware of the development. China gave a very lucrative offer to the Sri Lankan government by giving them a low-interest line of Credit (LOC) loan to develop one of their ports, but as we all know that nothing in the world is free, it turned out to be a monkey’s paw. The deal did no good and since the rules of the LOC where opaque Lanka was hence trapped in a debt trap, and according to the contract now the port belongs to China for 99 years (the law of 99 years lease is an age-old practice, earlier when it was introduced it mean that the land belongs to us until the time ends, but due to globalization and many reforms it was started taken into its literal sense). While many international media are trying to portray it as a humanitarian/business deal, but the popular opinion that this is a china’s debt trap expansionist policy seems to be more logical if one applies their common sense, why would any country be interested in giving loan on a low interest rate or without being a benefactor in it? Well, the answer is quite clear. But since no one here is an expert, let’s not comment on it.
What has happened now?
Sri Lanka has passed a controversial bill to support and give powers to china to make a Special Economic Zone in its Colombo port city which can look like a welcoming step on its face but as the history has it China has never done a clear deal and hence it is imperative to suspect its nefarious intentions, by looking closely into it the ugly face of this bill becomes more clear. The bill called COLOMBO PORT CITY SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, while the whole text doesn’t have any direct reference to “China” per say and neither it directly relates to it, but the intention is completely on the commission which is again governed by the ministers, the opposition is strongly condemning the move by the govt in power and many strong words like “the nation shall be colonized” are used as a warning sign, while closely going through the text of the bill it seems pretty clean.
But the powers giving to the commission and the minister under the part II section 6 are very discreet and very elaborated when it comes to all the decision-making powers regarding the SEZ, what’s more interesting is there is a huge web of words and many sections used to draft this bill to present the commission with immense control over the area. Part VI section 33 of the bill gives power to the commission to grant visa ion order to enter the SEZ, goes on declaring who is an outsider in the SEZ, section 26 (1) terms any individual who is not working in the area is termed as an outsider and has to apply for visa to pass the barriers, so even the citizen of his own country will have to get visa clearance in its land.
Many such small and objectionable clauses are added, which give extensive power to the commission and indirectly favor the Chinese government. Another one of such law clauses is chapter VI section 27 (5), which allows the use of foreign currency other than the Lankan Rupee. Many such examples can be seen throughout the text of this bill. After its implementation, there is a huge chance that the local government in the name of trade will allow China on its land, and slowly but definitely, China may colonise Sri Lanka. Let’s not forget how India was colonized, they came here in the Pretext of trading and ended up ruling us, the same may happen, but in a different way.
But we are in India, why do we care?
There is an old saying that says if you want to be happy, ensure that your neighbours are happy; if they are at peace, they won’t create a ruckus, and you will also be at peace as a consequence. With this move china is trying to make its presence felt in the Indian ocean and Lanka is also a strategic position, with slow and domination mindset, if the place is colonized by Chinese the possibility of palk strait being used as a hostage point is not very far, there are myriad possibilities and the implications are much more frightening. We also care more as Sri Lanka is culturally significant to India, we have cultural, religious, and many other connections. Every year, roughly 8% of Lanka’s GDP is from Indian tourists alone. Hence, any disturbance there will affect the fishery industry in India, the tourism sector of Lanka, business and trade relations, and so on and so forth.
Is there a solution?
As of now, there is nothing anyone can do it's an internal matter for them now, what they do on their land is purely their prerogative, as a global observer nation can just suggest them what to do or not to do a certain thing on their land but the final say rests with them. There are a few more things that can be done, since the bill lacks specific names of any country, any nation can offer to invest for a better price for international peace, but the cost would be high, and it’s a Faustian deal.
Let us hope for the best and wait for what happens
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