Any form of entanglement with India or the US on the strategic plane will be anathema to Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa rulers, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Third-country cooperation is highly complex, unpredictable phenomenon. Not even the closest allies can pull it off easily.
Lord Curzon, the then British foreign secretary, denied that oil interests influenced policy in Iraq, but archives show that the British government rushed troops to Mosul in 1918 to gain control of the northern oil fields in a sharp course reversal to recoup what had already been given away to France under the secret Sykes-Picot Accord of early 1916.
Even before World War II had ended, Washington began wondering about how an exhausted Britain would adjust to a world where it had less power and influence vis-a-vis the US.
Then US secretary of state Edward Stettinius wrote to then President Frankin Delano Roosevelt, ‘Never underestimate the difficulty an Englishman faces in adjusting to a secondary role.’
Matters came to a head with the Suez Crisis of 1956 when Britain and France sent troops to seize the Suez Canal and the US was not informed of the operation. President Dwight David Eisenhower hit back showing how power had shifted in the post-War world.
Ike blocked the IMF from granting Britain emergency loans unless it called off the invasion. Britain, militarily, never acted again against the explicit wishes of Washington.
Such lessons of history should not be forgotten, as India becomes an ally of the US. The nascent signs of India’s ‘bloc mentality’ first appeared within months of the Modi government assuming power in May 2014.
Mahinda Rajapaksa later recounted with great bitterness that a high level of US-Indian political, diplomatic and intelligence coordination in that project had done him in.
The intricate plot apparently involved splitting the Sri Lankan ruling party by cultivating pockets of influence in the Sinhala Buddhist establishment to weaken Rajapaksa’s political base and bringing in the hapless Jaffna Tamils as doormat.
Rajapaksa, a tough politician himself, was completely outwitted.
The regime change in Sri Lanka was the first of its kind in South Asia and bore striking resemblance to the US playbook in Latin America to undermine legitimate governments by using comprador elements and put in power ‘our s.o.b’ (as FDR once derisively called Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García).
Indeed, it was a radical departure in India’s foreign policy to have dragged a small neighbour to become a platform for its ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy with the US — a daring move, too, given Sri Lanka’s robust record of nonalignment.
The present ruling elite in Colombo will remain extremely wary of the US and India. The happenings in next-door Maldives must have rung alarm bells already that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Plainly put, any form of entanglement with India or the US on the strategic plane will be anathema.
This is the stark message coming out of the visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Colombo on October 28. Pompeo’s counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena said at a joint press meet, ‘As a Sovereign, Free, Independent nation, Sri Lanka’s foreign policy will remain neutral. Non-Aligned and Friendly.’ Gunawardena was responding to Pompeo’s overtures.
Importantly, the readout of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s meeting with Pompeo says, ‘Elaborating on the foreign policy of Sri Lanka, President said it is based on neutrality. Relations between Sri Lanka and other nations are determined by several conditions. Historical and cultural relations, development cooperation are some of the priorities.’
‘President stressed that he is not ready to compromise the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation in maintaining foreign relations whatever the circumstances may be.’
‘Noting that China assisted in the development of the country’s infrastructure since the end of the separatist war, President reiterated that Sri Lanka is not caught in a debt trap as a result.’
Simply put, the nadir has been reached for the ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy in the Pearl of the Orient.
Without doubt, this constitutes a humiliating rebuff to the US-Indian fantasy that Sri Lanka could be frog-marched into the so-called Second Island Chain strategy in the Indian Ocean, alongside the Maldives which signed in September a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the Pentagon to build American military bases there.
In 2013, India resented the US efforts to sign a SOFA with the Maldives, but in September 2020, when the American efforts fructified, Delhi became ecstatic.
This must be the first instance in diplomatic history when a regional power congratulated its tiny neighbour for granting military bases to a superpower from the other side of the planet 16,000 kilometres away.
The obsession with collaring the Maldives clouds Delhi’s judgment. The ruling elite blithely assume that having American military bases scattered over those 1,190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres, serves India’s long-term interests.
They suffer from dementia. They have forgotten the tragic story of Diego Garcia, which used to be part of Mauritius till 1965 and was rechristened British Indian Ocean Territory by London, only to be leased out to the US in 1967 to develop American bases.
There was strong opposition from littoral States of the Indian Ocean area — including India — who wished to preserve a non-militarised status in the region. However, the US simply rounded up the indigenous inhabitants, put them in overcrowded boats and dumped them on the beaches of Mauritius and Seychelles.
The UN overwhelmingly pleaded with the US to return Diego Garcia to its rightful owners but Washington, which swears by ‘rules-based international order’, simply thumbed the nose at it.
Do not rule out if a similar fate awaits the half million Maldivians at some point. The great game in the Indian Ocean is only beginning.
This geographical base is estimated to contain 62% of the world’s oil reserves, 35% of its gas, 40% of gold reserves, over 60% of uranium and 80% of its diamond reserves. Any doubt who will want to monopolise this fabulous wealth?
At best, Americans might send a bagful of diamonds to Surat for polishing before selling them in Midtown Manhattan’s Diamond District.
Make no mistake, the military bases in the Maldives will be a great asset for Americans to keep Indians under check. They must be anticipating already that some day an authentic nationalist ruling elite might appear in the corridors of power in Delhi elbowing out the pretenders, and revert India to independent foreign policies.
The mystique of geopolitics is such that you never know what lies in the womb of time. Just return for a moment to the fag-end of the Cold War
Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterand were so deeply sceptical about the wisdom of Mikhail Gorbachev’s plan to disband the Warsaw Pact that they descended on Moscow to prevail upon the Soviet leader to go slow on the unification of Germany, while Washington on the other hand was lustily encouraging him to press ahead.
Yet, only thirty years ago, Lord Ismay (the Nainital-born first secretary general of NATO) had thought that NATO was formed ‘to keep the Russians out, Americans in and Germans down.’
Already by the 1980s, the calculus had phenomenally changed.
stay out of any conflicts amongst the world powers.”
We request all foreign nations to respect
the sovereignty and the unity of our nation”
In using the term neutrality, none of the QUAD states or any other partnering the Indo-US Pacific strategy with intent to go to war with another country, can use Sri Lanka’s territory. With the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka clearly defined under Hague Convention, the GoSL is bound to withdraw from ACSA with US. ACSA was signed on 4 August 2017 in secret, amidst much controversy. It has not been tabled in Parliament. No one knows the contents of it. Only 180 days’ notice is required for Sri Lanka to exit from the agreement. Sri Lanka should exit from ACSA.
We are well aware that the QUAD nations are signing defense pacts and engaged in maritime exercises in preparedness for a confrontation with China. This is certainly not to exchange roses with each other. Sri Lanka wishes to engage with all nations for development but not to be used as a platform to engage in rivalries or to have Sri Lanka used to launch attacks against other nations.
2017 United States National Security Strategy paper
clearly identified China as a competitor to
American power, influence and interests”.
Sri Lanka’s Government & Foreign Ministry must make this clear in the 2-2 Ministerial Dialogue scheduled for 2021 decided after Pompeo’s visit to Sri Lanka. No US-Sri Lanka military training or naval training should be with intent to be used against China or any other country. Obviously 2021 is planned to rope in Sri Lanka to signing pacts with US along the Indo-US-Pacific Strategy and Sri Lanka must remain unfettered by the coercions at play.
Having weathered 2 insurrections by JVP, 3 decades of terror by LTTE – NO SRI LANKAN wishes to have Sri Lanka enter into any confrontations with external parties or have Sri Lanka used for interventions or skirmishes between countries. We are not willing to have Sri Lanka as a punching bag by powerful nations for their petty political games. We have always wanted to have good relations with all nations and that must continue to be the basis of our diplomacy.
What also needs to be added is that while NEUTRALITY is simply a stand taken, Sri Lanka is by signatory a Member of the Non-Aligned Charter and that membership is powerful and therefore Sri Lanka must continue to nurture ties with the Non-Aligned Members.
We have had ties with China & India when countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore did not even exist. Our ties are long and old and we cannot forget the richness of those ties simply because we are living in the ‘modern’ and ‘development’ dictates ‘olden cultures and traditions’ to be taboo. When the world find itself returning to fundamentals and basics, Sri Lanka is ever reminded that old is gold and the past cannot be buried or forgotten.
We want to be friends with all and enemies of none.
30 October 1964 marks a landmark agreement by Prime Minister of then Ceylon, Sirimavo Bandaranaike & Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. It was formerly known as the Sirima-Shashtri Pact and was signed to solve the issue of citizenship of Indian workers living in then Ceylon.
Sirima Shastri Pact
Is a bilateral agreement deciding the citizenship of persons of Indian Origin granting 525,000 Indian citizenship and 300,000 Ceylonese citizenship.
Who are persons of Indian origin living in Ceylon
This question takes us back to the period of colonial rule and how indentured laborers were brought from India to work on plantations on the island.
The colonials completely changed the native and heritage cultural and administrative practices. Capitalist economic system & private entrepreneurship was introduced and land belonging to the natives was confiscated via Wasteland Ordinance Act of 1840. Falsely acquired land was sold to foreign private planters. Plantations needed workers and the vacuum was provided by bringing in South Indian workers in the central hill area.
They were brought down because they afforded cheap labor and mostly on account of Sinhalese refusing to work on plantations.
What is important to understand is that at the time of independence these indentured laborers were more than the so-called new nomenclature of Ceylon Tamils coined in 1911.
However, the question of what was to be their future when Ceylon gained independence was an issue. They did not come on their own free will. They were not invited by the Ceylonese – these Indians were forcibly brought to Ceylon to work by the colonial rulers. Ideally, it is they (Portuguese – Dutch and mostly British) who should provide them citizenship in their countries without demanding Ceylon provide citizenship to them. These colonials brought people from other countries to work for their personal profits and it is they who should have looked after them not dump them upon the country they brought the workers to work on. This debate continues!
Firstly, these workers brought in by the colonials were not citizens to be given citizenship & claim their rights were denied via citizenship act of 1949. If anyone had to solve the problem it was the creators of the problem. These were the colonials in particular the British. Having brought natives from other countries to work on plantations for their profit, the British & other colonials dump these people on the newly independent nations and demand they give them citizenship. This is the crux of the situation vis a vis Indians brought from South India and settled down in Sri Lanka.
It is true that while the same Tamils got termed as Ceylon Tamils on the one hand from 1911 the rest became simply Indian Estate Workers.
The Portuguese-Dutch-British used them, dumped them and then went off to their nations & demanded the newly independent colonies look after them. This was another phase of divide & rule. These Indian Tamils were made stateless not by Ceylon but by the Colonials.
The gist of the 1964 Sirima-Shashtri Pact was to afford a choice for those who were neither citizens of India nor Ceylon to choose where they wished to be citizens.
This number was 975,000 and excluded illegal migrants from India.
300,000 were to be given Ceylon citizenship while 525,000 were given Indian citizenship.
The status of the remaining 150,000 was to be decided later.
India was to accept repatriations within 15 years from date of agreement (up to 1979)
Ceylon agreed to allow people employed to continue until 1979 repatriation and Ceylon agreed to repatriate with all assets (provident fund/gratuity etc but not exceeding Rs.4000)
It is via these Indian estate workers that Sri Lanka’s tea industry thrives as a major economic contributor. Ceylon tea has become world famous.
Yet the immigrant factor was always an issue and an irritant between the two nations. Many illegal immigrants posed off as Hill Country Tamils. There was always the question of loyalty. Were they loyal to India or Sri Lanka. How far could India ‘influence’ them – then and even now. How would that pose a threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. Yet, why were they dislodged even from the upper caste/class Tamil society. Mano Ganeshan would be able explain this treatment only too well.
Why was the fate of 150,000 not solved and how many has this number today increased to?
The 1964 Sirima-Shashtri Pact was amended against by the 1971 Sirima-Indira Pact and another in 1986 and in 1988 a law was passed to Grant Citizenship to Stateless Persons.
In the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord (2.16d) repatriation of illegal Tamils was one of the 5 main clauses which India did not uphold and was a prerequisite condition to the validity of the accord.
The debate surrounding the issue of Tamil illegal immigrants, Tamil indentured labor, origin of Ceylon Tamils and the role of western divide & rule will continue but the facts cannot be kept under politically correct stalemate.
With
a Sri Lankan American population in the United States now lingering between the
third and fourth generation, the time has come to face one of the most decisive
elections experienced by native and naturalized citizens with voting rights in
the USA. The choices are easy and plain
to those who follow the facts and closely examine priorities for the country
and its people. Above all, we have a
responsibility to uphold higher values than what we have experienced in the
last four years. It is imperative to
pick the right reasons for making choices because this election is unique in
the use of twists in the truth, vindictive actions and false unproven
allegations, personal financial motives, and plans to destroy democratic rights
of the people that can take the country on a journey of no return.
Fascism
is staring in the face of the United States with the growing lean towards
dictators, and the expanding empowerment of race based heavily armed white
supremacist militia dragging the country back to dark ages. Nothing said to the country can be withdrawn
as sarcasm or jokes after it is spoken. Words are also to be spoken with
responsibility in public speeches spoken to the country. Their words translate to assumed approval of action
whether good or bad, whether it kills people in the process or incites
violence. The ultimate responsibility
must be with the leaders whose words incite.
The mantra of white supremacy is frighteningly Neo-Nazi type and
endangers nonwhite minorities including immigrants like us. Even one life lost is one too many.
The
anti-immigrant sentiments are so strong that it seems like the established
policies to welcome diverse groups to the country with a welcome from the Statue of Liberty and,
accountability to all international conventions are on the brink of being ignored. The FBI has warned that the greatest security
threat faced by the US is not from foreign terrorism but more from domestic
terrorism that defy factual truths. The number of armed militia groups have
grown rapidly in the last four years.
They are free to carry assault weapons that belong in wars, in public
places because Trump has the support of, and approval of the gun lobby. With elections, weapons have been banned at
polling stations due to the fearful threats that have crept into politics. Weapons can be carried only by law enforcement.
We have yet to see what happens on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, a historic day.
Priorities
in a democracy is to evaluate whether the democracy is preserved by our voting
choices. Any country with democracy is
aware that democracies are hard fought. In doing so, one must examine the value of the
ability to vote and how it can be preserved for future generations. On top of
this basic value to be preserved is the peoples wishes and choices made for the
better good of the country and its people who elect representatives to steer
the country in the right direction. The
United States cannot survive with an isolationist policy that is the mantra
today. We live in a global community
that requires participation of all countries. Biden advocates bringing back
unity within the country and with international allies. This is in shreds in
these four years with citizens and allies in friendly nations worldwide no
longer able to look at the US as a beacon of hope and a leader.
Four
years of a Trump administration saw some destructive policies that do not sit
well with reasonable and intelligent voters.
The Trump base was supported mainly by non-college educated white men
who did not consider or understand important factors that played a part in the
global standing of the United States. Understanding global interaction between
countries is beyond the understanding of some of the base that drove the agenda.
Policy decisions were made mostly by Twitter and with abuse of Executive orders. Basic needs of humans as citizens can be
funneled to include healthcare, education, jobs and equal racial status, equal
justice.
With
immigrants like us, race relations are critical, and so are other basic values
tied to administration determined policies.
Currently policy takes shape determined by future votes for re-election
and not the needs of the nation. Encompassing all of this is respect for human
life and acceptance of all beings regardless of color, creed, national origin,
or religion. With the Trump
administration, those of us who brought value with our choice to emigrate to
the US were dismissed with disparaging name calling. Our skin color was denigrated and what was
not visible in the form of our education and value was ignored. We were stereotyped and our homelands
disrespected using language not permitted in the public domain as s**t hole
countries. We came from countries that
invested in us and benefited the United States, but we were insulted as if it
was a one-way street scraping the bottom by immigration. America gained from us too. We the Sri Lankan American citizens bring
solid values and work ethic, education, assets and we abide by the law as a
community with exceptions of some violations of the Patriot Act by supporters
of terror who were dealt with the law to some extent when criminal activities
were proven.
The
choice to support Biden is not because he is a Democrat alone. The basic choice of a leader for a country
that is a democracy is human decency. The US has lost its footing internally in
terms of race relations and respect for the ordinary citizens who pay taxes and
work hard to keep the wheels turning. The
treatment of racial, economic, political, and other diverse groups with lack of
respect and decency has been the hallmark of the last four years. Speaking the truth, acknowledging education, knowledge,
and expertise like world renowned scientists received arrogant egotistical
insults when they served humanity.
Every
occupation is a necessity whether it requires education or only skills and
desire to work. Healthcare is an issue
that has become the foundation on which fear has grown in the richest country
in the world. With dismantling the
Obamacare that provided affordable healthcare to a third of the population that
had no healthcare, the battle for four years has been to remove Obamacare by
using the Supreme Court that is also politicized with the long term plan to
defer decisions against that of the people to the divided court. Favoring appointees who must pledge loyalty
to the leader who put them there and not independent decisions guarantees a one-sided,
self-driven agenda that moves away from a democracy to a dictatorship style.
The
vindictive threat of removal of healthcare from 20 million people is
preposterous. Education and educated
opinions have been dismissed in the last four years. With the Biden-Harris ticket, there are some
rough edges that need to be worked on, but people live in hope that they will listen
to the people’s wishes and weigh decisions with input from those who bring
knowledge and experience. One such area
that we must work on is a review of the Foreign Policy toward Sri Lanka that
has resulted incomplete knowledge that has not done justice to Sri Lanka. We must take responsibility for criticism
over action that has resulted in less than favorable views except when firsthand
information is shared by us. Work to be
done in this regard is staring in our faces and we must move forward.
Taxes
are another issue. It is known that the
top 1% hold about 90% of the wealth in this country and they manipulate
financial markets that almost throttled the small investor planning for
retirement. They used to pay 28% in
taxes that the super-rich wanted reduced to 25%. Self-serving Trump reduced it further to 21%
giving them a 7% drop in 2017 serving himself and his wealthy friends, while he
had not paid taxes and cheated the country for 10-15 years. How can one respect this kind of individual
to make serious decisions for We the people” as stated in the Constitution of
the United States?
This
gap to give a 7% reduction in taxes was filled with deprivation of people like
me by taking away tax deductions that ordinary middle class workers and
retirees were able to claim at the end of a financial year in tax filings. This meant piling a further 7% taxes to be
paid by working and retired middle class to bridge the gap. We felt duped to lose 7% of the tax
exemptions we had prior to Trump. With
Biden-Harris, he has recognized an immediate need to remedy the tax structure
and restore healthcare. Biden has vowed to and will ensure that those earning
wages higher than $400,000 pay their fair share. Biden will reduce the burden
on the middle and working class with tax reform that will make the rich pay a
fair share. Prescription drugs have
increased 300% for some of us while the President claims he gave us the lowest
drug prices which is not the truth.
Covid
19 has been the test for most American voters.
The callous politicizing a pandemic with selfish motives to use it for
election vote winning, misleading the masses and calling world renowned
scientists and doctors idiots” hit home to those of us who are educated in
advanced science and exposed to biotech environments in our careers. Biden understands the value of contribution
from the experts who know more than a state leader. He respects science and we as citizens have
the confidence that when it comes to major issues he will respect the
collective opinion of experts and not be afraid to make unpopular decisions,
enforce policies with explanations that citizens can trust. Bidens desire to encompass the input of
experts in all areas to get the best of the better brains is a sharp contrast
to Trump who is poorly informed, hardly educated and had to pay someone to take
his college admission SAT tests. Respect
must be earned and not demanded. Biden
served one of the most popular Past Presidents, Barak Obama giving a sense of
security to people. His inability to
fulfill some of his policies was due to partisan and deliberate blocking by an
opposing Republican Senate that vowed to obstruct him even before he
started. The falsehood about Obama’s
birth on US soil was Trumps birtharism lies that took more energy away from
productive action with proof that was ignored to promote lies. Not only have we lost respect within the
country, but the USA has also lost respect worldwide among leaders and even
ordinary citizens of other countries.
Biden was Vice President of the country.
He knows the norms and the accepted conduct we expect from our
leaders. He knows what is good for the
country and people and will not be self-serving. His morality is above
board. He has lived by the laws of the
land.
When
immigrants came to the USA, it was based on voluntary choice. We are Sri Lankan in origin and familiar with
our democratic right to vote and make choices.
Although many do not value what our home country provided with the
freedom to choose, the free education, free healthcare with built in choices
that are available according to affordability, it is comparable to the desires
of Americans too. However, in the USA
education is not affordable, healthcare is unaffordable and until Obama stepped
in, it was tied to the employer who had the choice to not offer health
insurance. The government took its share
of taxes and social security but there were few guarantees of job security or protection
from healthcare costs.
With
Biden, he understands the basic needs of people. As a Sri Lankan American I feel very strongly
about the foreign policy toward Sri Lanka after ending the war on
terrorism. There was not enough force to
set the tone that Sri Lanka was victorious against the terrorists who were
labelled by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) as the most brutal of
all terror groups. The Mackenzie
Institute of Canada in a study determined that Sri Lanka’s terrorists stood
among the top three most brutal in the world that included Al-Shabaab and
Hamas. Yet, the US took a hard line to
march our trained military that lost 29,000 lives in uniform for Human Rights
Violations. Having been vocal about this
discrepancy needs more support from Sri Lanka.
The elimination of over 70,000 civilian lives of all races has only been
portrayed in half truths. With a Biden
administration, Sri Lanka’s foreign relations can be reviewed by educating a
new administration with truth and facts that give a balanced picture. It will not come by default. We, the voters of the American system must
use our avenues of input to follow up on requests to honor the independence to
defend our home country from the same terrorism that is on the radar of the US
government. Terrorism is terrorism. The tactics are the same. Only the cause” varies and sometimes, with
closer look at the so-called cause, it is evident that the cause is only an
excuse that is hardly honored.
With
a Biden-Harris administration, we as Sri Lankan Americans must do our part for
the bridge building between our countries.
When we leave Sri Lanka and become citizens, we must not forget that it
is not only the affluence and economic success that we enjoy. We must also remember that some of us brought
a high level of education, assets, and our values that we contribute to the
American System. We have added
value. It is disheartening to note that
some Sri Lankan Americans look at the two countries and condemn Sri Lanka as
all bad. Some Sri Lankans condemn the US
as all bad. There is no such pure and clear-cut
classification. We the people of this
world have individual responsibility to contribute with a balance of good and
bad for the better good of humanity that stretches beyond the labels by
country, politics, race, religion, and economic standing. The world of humans must be built on values
good for humanity and not personal gain.
In
this decisive time of the US Presidential elections referred to as the most
important in history, each of us bear responsibility to make the world work and
drive it in the right direction. It
takes effort beyond words and contempt.
China kept mum during the time of the general election of 2020. But soon after, China moved quickly to re-affirm friendly relations.
The first high-powered Chinese business delegation to Sri Lanka to arrive was a 15-member business delegation from Mianyang, to sign agreements with Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI). They came in December 2019.
Two landmark agreements were signed. A Cooperation Framework Agreement between COSMI and China Mianyang Enterprise Union for Import and Export, and a Strategic Cooperation Agreement between COSMI and Sichuan Yiyang Xuanyu Trading Co. Ltd were signed. The visiting Chinese businessmen also took part in many one-to-one B2B ‘COSMI matchmaking sessions’ with Lankan firms. .
COSMI President said COSMI works for the revival of the industrial sector in Sri Lanka that now faces various setbacks including lack of new tech and international links. This is why we bring international businesses here and link them to our local SMEs for investment and cooperation.
COSMI said Mianyang is an important pivot city on the junction of the OBOR project. It is the most dynamic city on China’s OBOR belt. Mianyang is the only science and technological city approved by the Chinese government. It is also one of eight Chinese national ‘layout areas’ for systematic promotion of comprehensive innovation and a leading electronic and intelligent manufacturing hub with multiple research and tech centres, and is the second largest economy in Sichuan Province,”
There were other China- Sri Lanka discussions, too. China-Sri Lanka Belt and Road Political Parties Joint Consultation Mechanism between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and main political parties of Sri Lanka has been established on June 2020. The first meeting of the mechanism, with the theme of Building the Belt and Road Initiative and Promoting Economy and People’s Livelihood, was held via video link in June. United National Party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and People’s United Front of Sri Lanka had attended.
Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the event. He said China was ready to work with Sri Lankan political parties to implement the consensus reached by the two Heads of State, strengthen the exchange of experience in state governance, consolidate the political foundation and public support for China-Sri Lanka ties, promote bilateral cooperation in all areas and contribute to the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The meeting also approved a joint initiative of the political parties of China and Sri Lanka to support Belt and Road cooperation.
A high level Chinese delegation, from Beijing flew into Colombo, and met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in October 2020. The Chinese team were visiting Sri Lanka, UAE, Algeria and Serbia on invitation. Sri Lanka was their first destination. This was a very significant visit.
The Chinese delegation comprised seven members, led by senior Chinese leader and top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi. He was Chinese Foreign Minister from 2007-2013 and China’s Ambassador to US from 2001 to 2005. He is presently a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the director of its Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission, a top policy-making body. He holds a position equivalent to Vice Premier.
Also in the delegation were China International Development Cooperation Agency chairman Wang Xiaotao, Assistant Foreign Minister Deng Lee and the Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Deputy Director General Chen Song.
The leader of the delegation said that the present status of bilateral relations between China and Sri Lanka was highly satisfactory. Maintaining and promoting this friendship is a key priority of President Xi Jingping. China wanted to maintain high-level exchanges and consolidate political mutual trust. Chinese President Xi Jinping considered further improvement of China-Sri Lanka relations a priority.
The delegation recalled past history. China–Sri Lanka relations have stood the test of time, they said. What continued from the ancient spiritual ties since the visits of Chinese Buddhist monks centuries ago, received a big boost when the Rubber-Rice deal was signed in 1952, even before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two newly emerged independent countries.
The Ceylon–China Trade Agreement of 1952 was undoubtedly the most useful trade agreement negotiated by Sri Lanka and one of the most successful and durable trade agreements in the world, having been in operation for 30 years , the delegation said.
The head of the delegation said that China will firmly stand with Sri Lanka to protect the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity at international fora including the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The delegation said that China would continue to assist Sri Lanka ‘s development drive. China has identified a number of areas conducive to the development of multilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka in addition to completing large-scale projects already underway; these include agriculture, education, tourism, water supply, healthcare, medical supplies, modern technology, the Digital Economy, the Blue Economy, and labor training.”
We will support not from words but by action,” said Jiechi. China announced a US$ 90 million grant to Sri Lanka, for medical care, education and water supplies in Sri Lanka’s rural areas.
There was a discussion on rural development . China and Sri Lanka could jointly implement rural revitalization (RR) projects based on the successes achieved in underdeveloped provinces in China. NeoChina Research Centre could help develop a centralized ICT platform and a Control and Coordination Centre for Rural Revitalization.
The delegation wanted China and Sri Lanka to restart discussions on a FTA. There were discussion on Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port, Yang asked that the Port City law to be passed no later than November. The law is expected to declare the reclaimed land to be the country’s first service-oriented special economic zone (SEZ). It will address red tape and shortcomings in approval processes within a ring-fenced, controlled environment. The Hambantota Port was Sri Lanka’s, not China’s, idea, President Rajapaksa said. But China had offered to fund it. Hambantota Industrial Scheme will be speedily completed.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa thanked China for its support in combating the Corona virus, saying China’s strong support in various fields has helped Sri Lanka strengthen its capacity to resume work and production amid the pandemic. Sri Lanka will work with China to maintain the firm mutual support, and welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and do business, he said, while hoping for increased bilateral people-to-people exchanges in the future.
The 26-member higher-powered Chinese delegation, which arrived on Thursday night, was whisked away under a tight security escort. the VVIP Lounge was declared out of bounds to journalists and no photographs of the visiting delegation were allowed. The delegation, which arrived aboard a special flight BJN099 from Beijing at 7.40 pm, had undergone a PCR test prior to arriving in Sri Lanka.
According to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Colombo, a special travel bubble” set up for the Chinese delegation, which will confine its members to Colombo, and restrict their engagements to just two meetings with the Head of State and the Prime Minister, under the strict health protocol” prescribed by the Ministry of Health.They stayed at a restricted floor of a local hotel and followed all health guidelines and regulations by the Health Ministry during their 18-hour visit.
China followed up on its promises. The Chinese ambassador met State Minister of Money & Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal and the Governor of the Central Bank Professor W. D. Lakshman to discuss the financial instruments to be implemented after the Yang Jiechi visit.
Sri Lanka will aggressively pursue the signing of the much talked about and long overdue Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China soon, said Sri Lankan Ambassador designate to China Palitha Kohona. Kohona said that the China Sri Lanka trade balance is strongly in favor of China with USD 5 billion imports and USD 30 million exports and local exporters are partly to be blamed for this. Sri Lanka tea is considered a high fashion drink in China especially among youngsters and local exporters have not successfully exploited this.
The Sri Lankan Government, Kohona said, will formulate a reliable legal framework for special economic zones in the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port. There will be flagship cooperation projects between Sri Lanka and China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which would be attractive to investors from all over the world. . “What we need are investments and more investments. We need to create wealth. We need to create jobs. We need to create prosperity for our people,” Kohona said.
Sri Lankan exporters should particularly take advantage of the annual China International Import Expo set to open next month, November, to boost exports, said Kohona, “I would like to see a number of tea companies, rubber products companies, spice companies, coconut products companies, gem and jewelry producers, and other service providers, including Sri Lanka Tourism and Sri Lankan Airlines, make use of this opportunity to access the Chinese market, he said. ( Continued)
PM Modi was wrong to reiterate his call for the 13th Amendment’s implementation – especially when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already articulated his position on the matter. In the past, this has been a bait for the Tamils in the north and east to turn antagonistic to their own Government. This kind of interference on Sri Lanka’s internal affairs had not only led to the destruction of innocent lives, but had been catastrophic to India as well
It is ironic that Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s ‘Avoidable Crashes: Economics and External Affairs’ was published on 15 October. Exactly 30 years ago to this date, the LTTE began its brutal campaign of evicting Muslims from the Northern peninsula. Over the next two weeks, the LTTE targeted different areas of the peninsula and systematically forced the Muslims out of their homes at gunpoint. By 30 October 1990, all Muslims were forced out.
They were robbed of their valuables, dignity and heritage. Those who accuse the Sri Lankan military of ‘credible war crime allegations’ never speak of this atrocity, which includes the kidnapping of wealthy Muslim entrepreneurs. While some returned to their families after paying a hefty ransom, others have disappeared to thin air. D.B.S. Jeyaraj’s LTTE’s Mass Expulsion of Muslims from the North 30 Years Ago” is a worthy read.
As revealed at the LLRC, the Sinhalese had been ethnically cleansed long before this date. Forcing Sinhalese out began as far back as 1977. By 1987, out of the 5,684 families recorded by the 1981 census, there was not a single Sinhalese living in the north.
This is how the north became exclusive to Tamils. The east, despite its violent past and brewing extremism, continues to home almost equal proportions of the three communities. The Muslims though may soon overtake the other two communities. Even with a near 100% Tamil population in the north, more than 52% of the Tamils continue to live outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces. For the first time since 1975, the Northern and Eastern Tamils have expressed their confidence in the incumbent administration via the August 2020 General Elections.
Premier Narendra Modi faux pas
Indian Premier Narendra Modi ignored all these glaring facts when he reiterated the long hackneyed demand for ‘Tamil aspirations’ at the virtual bilateral summit with Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa on 26 September 2020. It is just not possible to devolve power to the Tamils in the north and east. Before any political solution can be considered, the grave injustice to the Sinhalese and the Muslims who were living in these areas must be corrected. As attorney-at-law and author Dharshan Weerasekera reasons, to ignore this fundamental step would in effect be validating ethnic cleansing as a tactic for gaining ‘self-determination’”.
Dr. Jayatilleka warns that if the incumbent administration does not improve its image and continues to project itself as ‘hawkish Sinhala supremacists’, Sri Lanka will suffer economically. However, it is noteworthy that even when the country was under siege from terrorism, it was not the supremacists but the nationalists that stood for the country’s interests. As nationalists, Sri Lankans fought for a country that belongs to all communities. As supremacists, the LTTE terrorised all for an exclusive homeland for ‘only’ the Tamils in the north and east.
In their quest, they terrorised the Tamil civilians the most. Those who could escape from the physical reach of the LTTE’s terrorism and fascism did do so. Many resettled outside the north and east and only returned after the LTTE was annihilated. Others in Western countries can now enjoy their comfortable lives in peace as the extortionists who used to regularly visit have disappeared. Those who escaped to Tamil Nadu too would like to continue with the lives that they had rebuilt in India. However, most are still confined to refugee camps and subject to strict regulations.
Thus, for PM Modi to speak of ‘Tamil aspirations’ without addressing this anomaly is questionable. However, the greater concern is that for over four decades Sri Lanka has been unable to convince the world that the issues before the Tamils are not exclusive to the minorities or the privileges are not only for the Sinhalese. Just as there are very wealthy and successful Tamils, many Sinhalese are poverty stricken. When the LTTE was enjoying ‘the upper hand’, the Tamils preferred to live amongst the Sinhalese.
Yet, this has not been communicated to the world. Dr. Jayatilleka’s article may hold the clue to this abysmal failure. It appears that he is intimidated by the ‘colossal asymmetry of power’ wielded by India. He is aghast that a State Minister dared to state the obvious that the Indian Premier was out of line. Yet, as the subject minister, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera was correct to point out that implementing the 13th Amendment or to change the unitary status of the country to a united nation is a decision solely for the people of Sri Lanka. As a subject expert, Minister Weerasekera was also correct to note that the 13th Amendment is not a solution for Sri Lanka.
Surely, as a seasoned political analyst and a former diplomat, Dr. Jayatilleka cannot find the Indian Premier’s focus on one ethnicity acceptable. This was a bilateral summit and as such, was between nation to nation. Thus, neither country can address the concerns of only one community as artfully demonstrated by Premier Rajapaksa. The very implication that arises by doing so is undiplomatic and therefore unacceptable. In fact, PM Modi committed quite a faux pas by calling on the Sri Lankan Government to ensure equality, justice, peace and respect to Tamils. By doing so, he accused Sri Lanka of maltreating Tamils.
Yet, even India knows that this is not the case as visible from the controversial India’s Citizenship Amendment Act. By excluding Sri Lankan Tamils from this Act’s eligibility list, India acknowledges that Tamils are not under any sort of persecution or discrimination in Sri Lanka.
Small is no reason to be scared
It is true that territorially Sri Lanka is a small landmass. As Dr. Jayatilleka notes, Sri Lanka is no longer simply on the doorstep of the regional sub-super power; it is now located on the doorstep of a member of ‘The Quad’, a quasi-military, strategic alliance covering the Indo-Pacific vastness, with implications for the global balance.”
On this basis, if we are to silently concede to India simply because it is a larger force and a member of an even greater force, what should be our position if the Muslim nations collectively impose on us to deliver on the ‘aspirations’ of the Muslims? The ‘extremist’ Tamil youth fought for an exclusive Tamil homeland while the ‘moderate’ Tamil elders worded it as ‘devolving power’ for Tamil areas. The Easter attack by the ‘extremist’ Muslims was to rid the non-believers. Can we even allow a ‘moderate’ wording of this ‘aspiration’?
Clearly, Sri Lanka cannot afford to cower in fear or nod to every diktat in silent submission just because we are small. It means that we need to learn to speak up and articulate our position clearly. We need to be a lot more politically savvy than we are presently.
Therefore, we must analyse the geopolitical implications behind PM Modi’s call for the 13th Amendment. As an Amendment it has utterly failed. It failed to disarm the LTTE. In fact, the ill-advised Indian intervention resulted in strengthening the terrorist organisation. The teacher could not control the student and India that trained, armed and financed the LTTE ended up with over 1,300 dead Indian soldiers and twice as many casualties. India’s foreign policy blunder vis a vis Sri Lanka came crashing down on India with former Premier Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination by an LTTE suicide bomber.
Nalini Sriharan is currently the sole surviving member of the five-team squad accused in connection of the assassination. After Sonia Gandhi’s appeal for clemency, her death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment. Rotting away for the last 29 years in jail, she is India’s longest serving female prisoner. Those who fight for Easter attack suspect Hijaaz Hisbulla’s release are silent over the torture and indignity Sriharan is said to suffer. According to her mother, Sriharan is not even allowed access to her own lawyer. These allegations, if true, are a testament of India’s bitterness over the episode.
India’s cost is however not remotely close to that of Sri Lanka. The IPKF left abandoning the crucial satellite military camps. These were promptly taken over by the LTTE. Over the next 19 years, the LTTE grew in strength and ferocity. The LTTE was not only a threat to Sri Lanka, or the region but to the whole world. Its ships provided logistics to other terrorist organisations and smuggled people and narcotics that mostly ended in the Western streets. Sri Lanka must be saluted for defeating the LTTE against all odds.
Who wants the 13th Amendment?
Presently, the Provincial Councils ushered by the 13th Amendment are defunct because of the mess created by the Yahapalana Government, in which the TNA was a significant partner. Yet none of the minority politicians are worried over the PCs’ fate. TNA’s proposed constitution attempted to turn PCs into power centres and render the Central Government powerless. This would have adversely affected the minority communities living outside the north and east. The minorities therein will be under the rule of that province’s majority community. They would be without an overriding power to redress any communal injustice. In this context, the outcome of the east will be interesting, where the Tamil and Muslim communities vie for dominance.
The two provinces – north and east – cannot and should not be merged without a referendum. It is unlikely that the Muslims in the east would agree to a merger that would bring them under Tamil dominance. Without the merger, the Eastern Tamils would be under the Muslim dominance, which would be disagreeable to them.
Therefore, it is very clear that unless force is used the 13th Amendment is not feasible. Even then, it will not resolve any real or perceived grievance, but likely create problems of unmanageable proportions. Yet, as observed by Dr. Jayatilleka, Prime Minister Modi only reiterated what he had said many times before”. The reasons for India’s continued interest in an unattainable objective ought to pique political analysts’ interest.
‘Good Governance’ as elusive as the 13th Amendment
The unhappy truth is that the West bludgeons Sri Lanka on imaginary human rights allegations. Likewise, India uses the 13th Amendment to keep Sri Lanka off balance. Both the West and India scheme to manipulate Sri Lanka’s governance. Dr. Jayatilleka’s argument that the Western investor/buyer is morally conscious is illogical when the worst violators are the West and have been so for the past so many centuries. West is more adaptable as obvious with their relationships with countries with terrible political and humanitarian track records.
We must not repeat Yahapalana Government’s mistakes. Instead of standing firm on the ground that we had not committed war crimes nor engaged in systematic discrimination, we timidly scrambled to measure up to ‘good governance’. This exposes our failure in foreign relations. Our attempt to please the ‘asymmetrical powers’ resulted in dismantled intelligence networks, incompetent officers, a confused chain of command, politicised commissions and the worst terrorist attack on Sri Lankan soil.
Interestingly, not a single Western Government or agency nor India for that matter has expressed an opinion over any of these failures. On the other hand, grave concerns over the ‘draconian measures’ taken over the COVID-19 pandemic and the 20th Amendment were prompt. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa Administration’s success in containing the pandemic and managing associated social costs was impressive. Furthermore, the Administration’s quick responses and timely safeguards protected and strengthened the economy to outperform even pre-pandemic days. Studiously ignoring all these achievements, serious doubt is now being cast over Sri Lanka’s ability to meet its financial commitments. This is clearly to dissuade investors and lenders.
Towards a peaceful coexistence with all stakeholders
To be pro-nationalist does not make one an antagonist of another nation or a xenophobic. Therefore, speaking on behalf of Sri Lanka does not make one anti-Indian, anti-West or an isolationist. In fact, if we are to enjoy robust relations with the world, Sri Lanka must learn to speak up and have the courage to call a spade a spade.
This is especially important as the US gears itself to defend their interests against China’s rise in power. Most of our neighbours have already picked a side. Sri Lanka on the other hand has taken the challenging but noble path to maintain a zone of peace for all to trade and engage in commercial activities.
In this context, PM Modi was wrong to reiterate his call for the 13th Amendment’s implementation – especially when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already articulated his position on the matter. In the past, this has been a bait for the Tamils in the north and east to turn antagonistic to their own Government. This kind of interference on Sri Lanka’s internal affairs had not only led to the destruction of innocent lives, but had been catastrophic to India as well. Therefore, it behooves India also to move out of ‘traditional politics’ and partner with Sri Lanka towards a peaceful coexistence with all stakeholders.
(The writer can be reached via ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com.)
After
a long march, a great leap, a cultural revolution and ‘Tiananmen Square’, China
is today emerging as the most powerful country in the world. China is the
world’s first Communist state with a capitalist economy. China has managed to
stay Communist while engaging in free market enterprise. This is considered
unique and not to be replicated anywhere else. No other country plans to
imitate China.
At
the
19th Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, the Party declared that
its philosophy is based on
Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory and Xi Jinping’s
Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.
China
is ruled by one party, Communist Party of China.
Analysts observed in 2016 that the ruling Communist Party is very strong and is
‘unlikely to fall in the next ten years’. There is a sort of recruitment
policy. A person joining the Chinese Communist Party must satisfy many
conditions. His background is scrutinized very carefully. He is not allowed to rise
in politics very fast. Third rate persons get excluded early on, said
analysts.
China’s
miraculous economic growth, which started around 1980, has enabled China to lift more than 850
million people out of extreme poverty. in 2015
China created 11 million jobs.
China moved
rural people into urban settlements without waiting for it to happen as a
natural outcome of the development process. This brought rural people out of
poverty and allowed them to engage in more productive jobs in the industry and
service sectors.
The quality
of life improved. There is almost
universal literacy today, in China. many
attend primary and secondary schools. life expectancy has shot up and infant
mortality has plummeted, said TIME in 2009.
But China is
not complacent. China has further to go, said the Congress in 2017.China still
needs to cater to the peoples ‘ever-growing desire for a better life.’ There are a lot of poor areas still in
China, announced officials. The economic
development achieved so far, is inadequate and unequally distributed.
A two stage
plan was formulated for the period 2020 to 2050. From 2020-2035 China would build a moderately prosperous society and
from 2035 onwards, china would ‘fully
build’ a modern socialist China. The Party will ‘develop China into a great
modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally
advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.”
China became
rich through exports. Export production was
initially through FDIs. China’s factories were set up by foreign
multinational corporations, said analysts.
These MNCs had direct access to world markets and they produced goods
that would sell.
Production
was on a large scale. The industries
were supported by vertically integrated state owned enterprises in logistics,
energy, roads, shipping and ports. State
owned banks financed the infrastructure needed. China also started many Special
Economic Zones such as Shenzhen and these were used as a model by other
countries, including Sri Lanka.
China now
produces everything from stuffed toys to IPads, said analysts in 2015. China is the largest producer of ships,
steel, aluminum, furniture, clothing, textiles, cell phones, and computers.
China has become the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.
It is also a
leader in technology. Alipay, the Alibaba payment system, is more sophisticated
than anything in the west. Then there is Huawei whose 5G technology is
considered superior and cheaper. The successful 5G provider will also have a head-start into
6G and 7G.
China has
also become the world’s largest consumer. China imported more oil, consumed
more energy, and installed more solar power than any other nation, said
analysts. China has the world’s largest
internet users.
There are new consumer groups who have
capacity to spend on sports, entertainment, clothes and shoes. Chinese consumers are now setting the pace
for global commerce. For consumer product companies, you can’t win the world if
you are not winning in China. China encourages domestic consumption and much of
the spending is moving back into the country.
China was
expected to overtake the United States as the largest fashion market in 2019,
according to a report by McKinsey & Company. For example, Italian brand Ermenegildo Zegna
now looks to China, instead of the US, as the place for testing new products,
before deciding whether to promote them globally. The website said many luxury
brands already depend heavily on Chinese customers, who have for some time been
the world’s biggest buyers of luxury goods.
China has presided over the greatest economic
transformation in modern history, said China’s admirers. China has
vaulted to the top in a single generation. In 1980, China’s GDP was less than
$300 billion. By 2015, it was $11 trillion, making it the world’s second
largest economy by market exchange rates. In
1980, China’s trade with outside world amounted to less than $40 billion. By
2015, it was $4 trillion. Hong Kong is
now only 2.9% of the Chinese economy, TIME observed in 2019.
China is now
the world’s second largest economy and the world’s top trading nation. It has
more billionaires than the US and more high speed rail than the rest of the
world combined, said TIME in August 2020. China’s march towards becoming the
world’s largest economy is just a matter of time.
China has now
overtaken the US to become the world’s largest economy according to the IMF’s
World Economic Output 2020. Using the more reliable and now widely accepted
measurement, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), IMF has determined China’s economy
at $24.2 trillion compared to America’s $20.8 trillion. This is a massive leap
from less than USD 200 PPP in 1970. The PPP calculation method enables you to
compare how much you can buy for your money in different countries.
By 2017, on
most indicators, China had already surpassed the United States. Chinese consumers bought twenty million cars
in 2015, three million more than were sold in the US. . TikTok, a leading
social media app in the United States, is owned by the $75 billion Chinese tech
giant Bytedance.
In 2015,
Tsinghua University passed MIT in the US News and World Report rankings to
become the number one university in the world for engineering. Among the top
ten schools of engineering, China and the US each had four.
There is an increasing emphasis on Buddhism in China today. China
is emphasizing Confucian and Buddhist values, said TIME in 2009. Buddhism is encouraged by President Xi in
order to fill China’s moral vacuum.
members of the Chinese elite including Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan,
are interested in Buddhism. growing number of wealthy Chinese, have been
drawn in recent years to the mysticism of Tibetan Buddhism, said the media.
There is a chain of Buddhist clubs and Tibetan gurus like Geshe
Sonam preach in China. The travel guide DK Eyewitness travel” (Dorling Kindersley
2012) listed around 63 Buddhist monuments and temples for tourists to visit. There is hardly any mention of mosques,
churches, Confucian or Taoist temples.
China has
land borders with 14 countries and maritime borders with at least nine other
countries. Since 1960, it has settled its
boundaries with 12 of the 14
countries with which it shares land borders. They are Myanmar, Nepal, North
Korea, Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Laos, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Russia.
Its land
boundaries remain unsettled only with India and Bhutan. The territory in
contention with Bhutan is not large but is of strategic significance. once
India settles the boundary dispute with China the boundary with Bhutan will automatically
be settled.
China has
very strong connections with other countries. Of
the 53 states in Africa only Lesotho has no connection to China, the other 52
states all have connections with China.
China
has signed agreement to allow Nepal to use Chinese harbors and roads for
supplies. But those ports and roads are far away, observed analyst. China’s
investments and presence in the Indian Ocean have increased, and no country can
match China in that respect today, said analysts .
The countries
which have benefited from Chinese assistance in Asia, Africa and Europe have
not suffered a breach of their independence and sovereignty or lost any
significant extents of resources. China has not dictated to any of these
countries on how to run their country, how to change their constitutions, how
to look after their security, or preached on democracy, human rights, minority
rights and other internal affairs. China has not forced or pressurized any of
the recipients of its aid to fall in line and join the B & R I. They have
instead requested them to evaluate the pros and cons of the project and join if
they agree with its broad principles, said .N.A. de S. Amaratunga.
China
does not interfere in the internal affairs of any country agreed analysts.
China never considers themselves to be a model.
China does not have the evangelistic approach of USA, which says Be like
us, said analysts. China strategy for south East Asia is , come grow with me, said Lee Kuan Yew.
China’s most
recent linkup is with Iran. China and Iran have drafted a Trade and Military
Partnership Agreement in 2020 which will vastly expand Chinese presence in
Iran. The military agreement proposes deepening military cooperation. It calls for joint military training and
exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing.
The trade agreement
includes inter alia, new ports along the coast of the Sea of Oman, a 5G
telecommunications network, Chinese Global Positioning System and cyberspace
control by China’s Great Firewall. Chinese investments in Iran would total $400
billion over 25 years. In exchange, China would receive a regular, heavily
discounted supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years.
One of the
proposed new ports is at Jask, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance
to the Persian Gulf. This will give the Chinese a strategic vantage point on
the oil route. The passage is of critical strategic importance to the United
States, as well, the US Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain.
Due to US sanctions,
China is the only major player active in Iranian oil. China considers sanctions
against Iran as an opportunity to secure huge fields and markets which might
have gone to Western companies. Iran needs to increase its oil production to at
least 8.5 million barrels a day to remain a player in the energy market, and
for that, it needs China.
Beijing allows its companies to do business in Iran.
Chinese goods and services have flooded Iran’s market. Iranians welcomed this.
Apart from Russia other nations were not willing to come in.
China
and India are seen as rival for power in South Asia. Comparisons have been
made. In 2016 it was said that China’s economy was five times that of India. That was not all. Inflation is low in China
and high IN India, said analysts. There is political stability in China, political instability in India.
Chinese firms
including Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi
have poured more than $5 billion into Indian enterprises in 2018,
surpassing flows from Japan and the United States. Five of the top 10 mobile
apps in India are now Chinese compared with just two out of 10 in 2017. The
media warned of a Chinese invasion” of the Indian tech sector. Beijing now has
access to Indian social media messaging, health records, user-generated
content, and consumer spending and financial information, with New Delhi’s
tacit consent, said observers.
China
faces opposition from its ‘enemies’. There have been tensions between the
Chinese and the majority Muslim group in China, the Uighur. The Uigher are
claiming genocide. They say that China
had been introducing Han settlers into the area and giving them privileges such
as the lion’s share of investments. Uighur
rights groups are demanding an independent Xinjiang. Chinese say this is instigated
abroad. The headquarters of the World Uighur Congress is in
USA and the Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer, lives in the US.
Analysts say the agitation regarding the Rohingya in Burma has little to do with religion. The west will not take an interest in the Rohingya of Myanmar unless there is some hidden agenda, they said. China has an oil and gas pipeline there.
China wants
to build a 120-kilometre canal cutting through the isthmus of Kra in Thailand. (
Kra canal). China can then get to the Indian Ocean bypassing the Strait of
Malacca. Now other countries such as
India, USA and Australia wish to join the project. More than 30 foreign firms
have shown an interest in investing, providing financial and technical support
. They want to sign a memorandum of understanding with us, said Thailand. Foreign embassies have contacted us to get
the latest status on the project .
Lee Kuan Yew told TIME in 2013, China has transformed from a poor society to become now the second largest economy in the world on track to become the word largest economy. They have a culture 4000 years old. And a huge population pool to draw from. How could they not aspire to be No 1 in Asia
At the 19th CPC Congress in 2017 China pledged to be
a major factor in the world. China will
be called on to play a stabilizing,
responsible role when it comes to questions of trade, security and
international order, the Congress said.
As part of
this, China is preparing for war. Beijing will not take a single step back in
the contested South China Sea, China said. China’s navy has become the world
largest navy, said Economist in September 2020. China is now working at
building a great navy, said Statesman. Navies do far more than fight. They
protect trade routes, observed
Statesman.
When
China becomes the world’s largest
economy over the next decade the global system will be led by a non-English
speaking, non-Western, non-democratic state, observed Australia’s Kevin Rudd. (
continued)
In France, the recent attack in Nice and
following on from the murder of Samuel Paty on 16 October, the World
Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor
Ahmad has condemned all forms of terrorism and extremism and called for mutual
understanding and dialogue between all peoples and nations.
His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad states:
The murder and beheading of Samuel Paty and the attack in Nice
earlier today (29 October) must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Such grievous attacks are completely against the teachings of Islam. Our religion
does not permit terrorism or extremism under any circumstances and anyone who
claims otherwise acts against the teachings of the Holy Quran and contrary to
the noble character of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him).
As the worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I
extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of the victims and to the
French nation. Let it be clear that our condemnation and hatred of such attacks
is not something new but has always been our position and stance. The Founder
of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (peace be upon him) and his Successors have
always categorically rejected all forms of violence or bloodshed in the name of
religion.
The fallout from this heinous act has further exacerbated the
tensions between the Islamic world and the West and between Muslims living in
France and the rest of society. We consider this to be a source of deep regret
and a means of further undermining the peace and stability of the world. We
must all join together to root out all forms of extremism and to encourage
mutual understanding and tolerance. From our perspective, the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community will spare no effort in our mission to foster a better understanding
of the true and peaceful teachings of Islam in the world.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a second national lockdown for England to prevent a “medical and moral disaster” for the NHS.
He said Christmas may be “very different” but he hoped taking action now would mean families can gather.
Non-essential shops and hospitality will have to close for four weeks on Thursday, he said.
But unlike the restrictions in spring, schools, colleges and universities can stay open.
After 2 December, the restrictions would be eased and regions would go back to the tiered system, he said.
Mr Johnson said: “Christmas is going to be different this year, perhaps very different, but it’s my sincere hope and belief that by taking tough action now we can allow families across the country to be together.”
The prime minister told a Downing Street news conference that he was “truly, truly sorry” for the impact on businesses, but said the furlough system paying 80% of employee wages will be extended through November.
He said hospitals even in the south-west of England, where cases are among the lowest, will run out of capacity in weeks.
“Doctors and nurses would be forced to choose which patients to treat, who would get oxygen and who wouldn’t, who would live and who would die,” Mr Johnson said.
Takeaways will be allowed to stay open as pubs, bars and restaurants close and people are being told they can only meet one person from outside their household outdoors.
Mr Johnson, who chaired a cabinet meeting on Saturday afternoon, will make a statement to Parliament on Monday.
The UK recorded another 21,915 confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 1,011,660.
Another 326 people were reported to have died within 28 days of a positive test.
The UK is the ninth country to reach the milestone of a million cases – after the US, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina and Colombia.
But the true number of infections is expected to be higher due to a lack of widespread testing at the start of the pandemic.
Names reflect beliefs and attitudes and give an insight into the manifold influences a people have been subjected to in the past, says Asiff Hussein, in his article in Roar.lk.
Little do we realise that names are the foundation of all knowledge. Naming people and things makes it easier for us to make sense of our world. In the Muslim creation story, for example, we are told how God taught Adam the names of all things, thus giving him knowledge of matters even the angels could not fathom. The names we give ourselves not only help us identify one another, but are also replete with meaning. However, our names have not always been the same; they have been changing over the ages and have intriguing stories to tell.
The earliest names Sri Lankans gave themselves were very simple. One has only to look at the names of the founding fathers of the Sinhalese nation to realise this. There was Vijaya, whose name literally means ‘victory’ or ‘conquest’. Then there were his ministers, like Anuradha and Upatissa, all of whom had names of a very simple kind.
Simple names continued to be used in the Brahmi inscriptions of the 3rd century BC – 3rd century AD in Sinhala Prakrit (an early form of Sinhala), where we find names like Abaya, Data, Guta, Deva, Mita and Sena. Abayameant ‘fearless’, Mita ‘friend’ and Sena ‘Army’. These simple names continued until the 10th century, as we find in the Sigiri graffiti of the 8th to 10th centuries, where there are names like Agbo, Bodur, Dev, Kasub and Mihind, though we also meet with a few double-barelled names like Mahamal Bud, Golagamu Niladevala and Salame Dev. These compound names reflected a trend slowly catching on then, that in later centuries would result in some really long names that peaked during the colonial era with the addition of names of European origin. That’s when we come across names like Johannes Franciscus Dias Wijeyasekere Bandarenayeke and Julius Valentyn de Saram Wijeyasekere Goenatilakaratne figuring in a list of Sinhalese headmen in the Ceylon Almanac of 1844.
Family Names
A few of the composers of the Sigiri verses a little over a thousand years ago were already identifying themselves as belonging to the house of so and so, such as Kasub himiyan-ge Mihind (Mihind of the House of Lord Kasub) and Magalamb Mihidala-malun-ge Agboy (Agboy of the House of Mahadala-Mal of Magalamb).
The suffix -ge used here means ‘of the house of,’ and serves a similar purpose to the ‘Von’ of German names. To this day, the Sinhalese use family ge-names such as Hevage (House of the Soldier), Liyanage (House of the Scribe) and Bambaravanage (House of the Forest of the Bees). These preceded the proper names of persons and in the olden days served as a sort of surname. Today, they may simply be adopted as surnames. For instance, Luvishewage Dayapala’s children would be called Chaminda Luvishewa and Lakmali Luvishewa.
E.B. Denham, in his Ceylon at the Census of 1911 (1912), already noted the tendency of ge-names to be adopted as surnames after the European fashion by dropping the -ge at the end. Among the examples he cites are Kodituwakkuge Andiris becoming Andiris Kodituwakku and Ratnayakage William becoming William Ratnayaka. He noted: The tendency to-day in the towns is to drop the ge-name altogether and to adopt surnames after the English fashion. In the interior and in the villages the ge-name is scrupulously regarded”.
Women’s Names
In the earliest Brahmi inscriptions of the country c. 2nd century BC, women tended to identify themselves as the daughter of so-and-so. For instance, Revati called herself the daughter of Mitapala (Mitapalasa jhita Revati) while Princess Anuradi described herself as the daughter of Prince Abaya (Aya Abayasa jhita Abi Anuradi). In later medieval times, as we gather from the Sigiri graffiti, the ladies tended to identify themselves more with their husbands, as the wife of so-and-so. One female composer identifies herself as Sevu, the wife of Nidalu Mihid (Nidalu Mihid Abu Sevu), while another calls herself Lady Nal, wife of lord Mahamet (Mahamet-himiya abu Nal himiyabuyun).
This does not necessarily reflect a patriarchal society, since there is a case of a man named Mahasattay identifying himself as the husband of Lady Boya (Boya kala semi Mahasattay). We also know that even up to Kandyan times, Sinhalese women did not take their husbands’ surnames, but kept their family names. It was only as a result of British rule that local women gradually took to adopting their husbands’ surnames. This British practice was no doubt a spillover from the days of Roman rule, reflecting the wife’s transfer from the patria potestas, or paternal power of the father, to that of her husband.
Caste Factor
Both personal names and family ge-names differed by caste. For instance, the name Banda in forms like Heen Banda, Tikiri Banda and Dingiri Banda was commonly borne by members of the Govi caste.
The fairer members of this caste bore names like Menike(Jewel) in forms like Ran Menike, Podi Menike, and Dingiri Menike. The untouchable Rodi caste had names that were vastly different. Hugh Nevill, the well-known British Civil Servant and Orientalist, in his Taprobanian (August 1887) mentions names like Asura, Wisiya, and Suruwana borne by Rodi men and Asurangi, Bingumali, and Singowalli borne by Rodi women.
As for ge-names, we would find that the Govigama, who have been traditionally considered farmers and hence much rooted to the land, have names based on localities like Bovattegedara (the House of the Garden of Bo Trees) and Siyambalagodage (the House of the Grove of Tamarind Trees). Karava ge-names may reflect a sea-faring and military tradition like Marakkalage (House of the Skipper), Galappatige (House of the Caulker, one who puts away water from a ship), Hennedige (House of the One prepared for War), Gardiya Punchi Hevage (House of the Little Soldier of the Guard) and Patabendige (House of those bound by the Band). Patabendige refers to a titular rank by some Sinhalese monarchs of old for some heroic deed by means of fastening a band of silk or gold round the forehead.
The Vahumpura have names like Devage and Hevage, testifying to a warrior tradition in the olden days, Deva being a synonym for the Aryan warrior caste known as Kshatriyas and Heva meaning ‘Soldier’. The Radawa commonly bear names connected to washing, like Haluge and Apullanagedara, Halu meaning ‘shawl’ and Apullana meaning to ‘wash clothes by beating them against a rock’, which is the manner by which they used to wash clothes in the olden days.
The Navandanna have names referring to their artisan tradition like Acharige, Badalge, and Abharana Gedara, and the Bathgama very often have Pedige of dubious meaning prefixed to their names.
Portuguese Names and Titles
The arrival of the Portuguese on our shores in 1505 had a profound impact on local society, not the least in the names of low country Sinhalese.
For one thing, the Portuguese title of Dom, originally applied to nobles and churchmen, caught on by undergoing a slight corruption to Don to precede the proper names of local men. Its feminine form, Dona, applied to ladies of very high standing (to this day the first lady of Brazil, which used to be a Portuguese colony, is called Dona), was also adopted by local women, especially of the south.
J.W. Bennett noted in his work, Ceylon and its Capabilities (1843), how the Sinhalese of his day still aspired for Portuguese names and titles, adopting names such as Don Louis and Don Christoffel. German Barons” he says, are scarcely less plentiful than Ceylon Doms and Dons, and the latter appendage is just as easily assumed as the former title”. Who can, after all, forget our well known Queen Dona Catherina, whom the conquistadors installed on the throne of Kandy? Or our first Prime Minister, Don Stephen Senanayake?
The Portuguese also left a very large number of their surnames behind, although this does not mean that those who bear them have Portuguese ancestry. Rather, these surnames seem to have been adopted by their forebears when they converted to Christianity, possibly taking after the names of Portuguese godfathers. Such Portuguese surnames were called alukunna from the Portuguese alcunna, which in turn had derived from the Arabic al-kunya.
While common Sinhalese surnames like Almeda, Cabral, Costa, Dias, Silva, Perera, Fonseka, Fernando, Pinto, Rodrigo, and Salgado are pretty straightforward Portuguese, there are others that have undergone slight variations such as Aponsu (Affonso), Livera (Oliveira), Grero (Guerrero), Peiris (Peres), Nonis (Nunes), Gomas (Gomes), Mendis (Mendes), Suwaris (Soares), Sigera (Siqueira), Pigera (Piqueira), Tisera (Teixeira), Thabrew (D ‘Abreu), Doluvira (De Oliveira), and Salpadoru (Salvador). Many of these Portuguese names have lovely meanings. For example, take Silva (of the Woods), Costa (Sea Coast), Perera (Pear Tree), Oliveira (Olive Tree), and Correa (Place covered with Carriolas plant). Yet others are diminutives, like Pinto (Chick) or suggestive of a heroic tradition, like Guerrero (Warrior).
Dutch Names
The Dutch influence on Sinhalese names was not as profound as the Portuguese whom they succeeded in 1658. They did not bestow any surnames on the Sinhalese or Tamils as they were more keen on trade than converting or culturally influencing the local populace. However, they did leave behind a number of personal names, many of which continued to be borne by the Sinhalese of the humbler classes until very recent times.
In fact, one may still come across such names borne by an older generation of men. Thus we have Karolis, Tepanis, Harmanis, Yohanis and Girigoris,which have arisen from the Dutch Carolus, Stephanus, Hermanus, Johannes and Gregorius. Not all such names are, however, of Dutch origin. Paulis is from the English Paul, Jaamis from the English James, and Chaarlis from the English Charles.
Tamil Names
The Tamils are fervent Hindus and believe that adopting the names of Hindu divinities are the best form of flattering the gods. Popular names include Arumugam (‘the six-faced one’, a reference to Skanda), Kanapati (a reference to Ganesh, the elephant-headed god), Murugan (another ancient name for Skanda, the god of war) Nadaraja (King of the Dance, meaning Siva in his manifestation as the cosmic dancer) for men and Lakshmi (Goddess of Fortune) and Sarasvati (Goddess of Knowledge) for women. There are also a few corrupted names like Lechchumi (a corruption of Lakshmi) and Meenachchi (a corruption of Meenaakshi meaning ‘the fish-eyed one’, the tutelary goddess of Madura). Although most Jaffna Tamils are Saivites or worshippers of Siva, they also bear Vaishnava names like Alvar, Gopal and Krishnan, which are connected with Vishnu (Personal Name in Jaffna Society, in the research journal Tamil Civilization, 1986).
Colour Names For Untouchable” Castes
The untouchable” castes were hardly, if ever, given the names of deities. Rather, they were often given names that indicated colour, height, or terms referring to demons. They bore names like Karuppan (black one), Kattaiyan (short one) and Muniyan (demon). The women were given names like Karuppi (black girl) and Puti (devil lady) (Caste and Language in Jaffna Society by S. Suseendirarajah, Anthropological Linguistics, 1978).
The Tamils of Jaffna, especially those of the Vellala caste, had a practice of prefixing their father’s names to their personal names by adding the word pillai or pullai (son) to it. Thus, Velu’s son Shanmugam would be called Velupillai Shanmugam. Even today this is known among older sections of conservative Tamils, though the practice has declined of late. In the olden days, this was fairly common. For instance, in a list of Tamil headmen of Jaffna given in the Ceylon Almanac of 1844, we come across one Sangerapulle Velyden.
To this day among the Jaffnese, one’s initials generally stand for one’s father’s name in the case of males and unmarried females. In the case of married women, it often stands for the husband’s name, perhaps a result of Dutch rule in Jaffna.
Muslims’ Ge Or House Names
It is a little-known fact that many Muslims of the country, more properly known as Moors, bear Sinhala ge-names. This is especially so of the Moors of the Kandyan areas, among whom one could find ge-names like Galgedara, Lindegedara, Kandegedara, Muhandiramla-gedara, and Nagahadeniya-gedara. These ge-names precede the personal names of individuals. Thus we have names like Alakoladeniya Gedara Yusuf Lebbe, Kurugoda Vidanalage Gedara Abdul Hameed Wahabdeen, and Kandegedara Abdul Gafoor Sitti Nafiya.
However, what is interesting is that the Moors of maritime districts like Aluthgama, Beruwala, and Maggona also formerly bore ge-names which are widely attested in the Dutch Tombos covering the period 1766-1771, where we find such names like Ibrahim Tandellage Ahamadoe Nainde, Daroebesie Lienege Oemoer Lebbe, Iratnewalli Aratjege Oedoema Lebbe, Ismail Mokedonge Oemoer Lebbe, Pawelekodige Sleman Lebbe, Kopeaediaerlage Ibrahim Lebbe, Mamina Marekelage Ahamadoe, and Assena Lebbelage Potoema Natja.
These ge-names could have come into existence among the Kandyan Moors due to one of two reasons: they were either borne by the Sinhalese ancestresses of these Moors, who passed it down to their offspring; or else might indicate the readiness of the Moors to adopt the salient features of the host culture, so as to identify themselves more closely with their Sinhalese neighbours, with whom they maintained friendly relations. Parallel situations were found among the Turkic-speaking Muslim peoples of Central Asia, who, after Russian practice, follow their personal names with the names of their fathers suffixed with –ov e.g. Karimov, Sultanov, and Rakhmanov. However, there is reason to believe that at least a few ge-names such as Muhandiramlage, borne by a number of Moor families, were acquired as a result of their ancestors being appointed to the high office of Muhandiram etc. by the Kandyan kings.
Funny Names Among Muslims
The Moor Muslims of old commonly bore nicknames. Such patta-perus, as nicknames were called, included Baba (Baby), Kolanda (Infant), Echchi (Miserly), Pushana (Indolent), Shoththian (Feeble-handed), Shemata (Brown or Tan), Dada-bada (Noise made when walking), Munda kan (Big-eyed), Poona kan (Cat’s eye), Madayan (Fool), Jemmi (Jewel) and Poo (Sweet).
There were others like Karupati (Jaggery), Kochchika(Chillie), and Pila kotta (Jak seed), perhaps referring to their tastes for these particular items of food. More interesting were names like Aana Bulingi ‘Swallower of elephants’, Baang Koli ‘Turkey’, Koli Kunji ‘Chick’, Porichchakoli ‘Fried Chicken’, Kumbala Mashi ‘Maldive Fish’, Karapothan ‘Cockroach’, Katchcha Karupatti ‘Bitter Jaggery’, Shappatayan ‘Flat Nose’, Velli Baba ‘Silver Baby’, Vengalam‘Loud-mouthed’, Bavulthavaly ‘Stomach ache’ and Anjishazathu Mapulle‘Five Cents Bridegroom’ who traveled as such in a decorated tramcar with his entourage” (Some Nicknames of Sri Lanka Moors by M. M. B. Ansari 1981).
There was a very good reason as to why some nicknames gained currency among the Moors. This was the similarities in many personal names borne by Muslims, which called for some way of distinguishing them. This is suggested by M. M. Thawfeeq who, in his Muslim Mosaics (1972) refers to the practice of calling people by nicknames in the early part of the last century and observes that: It just happened that there were scores of Hamids, Yoosoofs, Haniffas, Mohideens etc. in that concentration of Ceylon Moors”. The easiest way out, he says, was nicknames emphasising their attributes, penchant, and failings – even physical defects.
To conclude, we can see that the names we give ourselves say a lot about us as individuals and as communities. They give us identity and a sense of belonging to a particular group and help others identify us as such; they reflect our beliefs and attitudes and even give an insight into the manifold influences we have been subjected to in the past. In essence, they capture in a word or two what we are all about. There’s really no such person as a nobody if he or she has a name ‒ and therein lies the power of names.
Following is a statement issued by the State Minister of Money & Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal on 30th October 2020
With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries including Sri Lanka, observed a contraction in economic activity, reduction in foreign exchange earnings, decrease in revenue collection, and increase in health and welfare related expenditure. However, the prompt and measured policy support provided by the Government and the Central Bank enabled Sri Lanka to contain the unfavourable effects of Covid-19 to a great extent, and return the economy to near-normalcy by mid-May 2020. In fact, most economic activities have displayed a notable revival from May onwards, and this recovery is on-going. The recent detection of a new Covid cluster is now being decisively addressed by the Government, and this wave is also expected to be short-lived. Accordingly, the expansion of the fiscal deficit and the increase in debt levels in 2020, should not be generalised as a prolonged debt distress, but rather as a one-off” deviation from the clear fiscal consolidation path that has been well articulated in the new Government’s policy framework.
The election of a new President in mid November 2019 and the formation of a single-party Government with a sizable majority in August 2020, has enable the new Government to address the uncertainties in the political and policy spheres observed during the period 2015 to 2019. Consequently, Sri Lanka has been able to address public health concerns swiftly, as well as take difficult economic decisions with greater confidence. For example, when the Government was of the view that it was necessary to conserve forex, given the likelihood of low foreign exchange earnings due to the pandemic, and the need to prioritize foreign debt service obligations, the Sri Lankan authorities imposed restrictions on non-essential imports from March 2020. Such decisive and bold action, along with the reduction in global petroleum prices, resulted in a substantial saving of nearly US$ 3 billion in terms of expenditure on merchandise imports in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period of the previous year. This saving, along with the better-than-expected outcomes in terms of merchandise exports, services exports other than tourism, and workers’ remittances, is now projected to compress the external current account deficit to below 1.5% of GDP in 2020.
It would also be noted that capital flows and official reserves were also affected during the early months of the global outbreak of Covid-19. However, growing business confidence due to decisive action by the Government and the Central Bank has enabled the country to stabilize the exchange rate with only a marginal depreciation of around 1.5% so far this year, even while the Central Bank was able to purchase/absorb US$ 300 million from the domestic foreign exchange market during the year. As a result, official reserves remain close to US$ 6 billion, after settling foreign debt service repayments of around US$ 4 billion thus far during the year, including the repayment of the matured International Sovereign Bond of US$ 1 billion in October 2020. In the meantime, it would be further noted that the Sri Lankan authorities are presently negotiating a loan of USD 700 million from the China Development Bank which is expected to be at an interest rate and terms of repayment that are significantly more favourable than the USD 1 billion Sovereign Bond that was just re-paid. In addition, an attractive, exchange rate risk-free, Forex SWAP facility has been introduced for any foreign investor who invests in Sri Lankan government securities, which is expected to boost foreign exchange inflows particularly from the Middle-East, in the period ahead.
In terms of growth performance, Sri Lanka is once again set to embark on a growth path, following the setback in the first half of 2020 caused by the pandemic. The formulation of the new Government Cabinet and State Ministerial structure, with clear performance indicators has been geared towards improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the economy. These new governance structures are bound to enhance agriculture and agro-based and mineral-based industries, increase export opportunities, as well as facilitate large projects within the Port City, Hambantota Port, and dedicated industrial zones. The expected revitalization of state owned enterprises, together with the private sector-led growth projects would also revert the Sri Lankan economy to the high growth path that was observed prior to 2015 whereby annual growth rates of over 6.5% were regularly recorded.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka’s entire local debt stock of about Rs. 7.7 trillion (USD 42 billion) as at end July 2020 is being rolled-over and re-priced now at interest rates which are almost half of what was paid in 2019, while the Rupee remains stable. It may also be noted that a new trend has been established where greater reliance is being placed on domestic financing, and that strategy has already improved the domestic: foreign” ratio of the debt from 51:49 at end 2019 to 56:44 now, which trend the authorities are keen to improve further in the period ahead. It is therefore clear that the Government’s commitment and support towards better debt management, both directly and indirectly, has already started to take effect.
Sri Lanka is justifiably proud of its immaculate debt service record, without a single default. It would also be noted that Sri Lanka has experienced similar challenging circumstances previously, with high levels of debt. For instance, during 2001-2004, the country’s debt to GDP ratio was well over 100%, and by end 2005, it was at 91%. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka was able to gradually reduce the debt to GDP ratio to just 72% by end 2014 through decisive and innovative action.
The police have traced 454 individuals in total who had left the Western Province on the 29th of October, before quarantine curfew came into effect.
They have been placed under self-isolation at the establishments they are currently staying at, the Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said.
Addressing a special media briefing held this evening (31), he said these persons were found while holidaying at tourist hotels in Bandarawela, Batticaloa, Ampara, Jaffna, Tangalle and Nuwara Eliya areas.
Further search operations to trace people who left the province on the 29th and 30th of October are underway, the police spokesperson added.
Quarantine curfew was imposed in the Western Province from midnight on Thursday (October 29) until 5.00 am on Monday (November 02) in an attempt to prevent long weekend getaways amidst the alarming pandemic outbreak in the country.
The members of the public were requested to refrain from leaving the Western Province before curfew is enforced, however, a large number of people have disregarded the announcement issued by the health authorities and security forces.
The police spokesperson said those who enter the Western Province on Monday will be strictly monitored and will be directed to quarantine procedure if it is revealed that they had left on the aforementioned two days.
He also noted that legal action will be sought against these persons for violating quarantine regulations.
The unfortunate news of a young special needs boy committing suicide after his mother was admitted to the hospital by public health inspectors due to symptoms related to the coronavirus was reported from the Dolahena, Homagama.
The infected woman had bought fish from a fish market in Maharagama and was admitted to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital yesterday (30) due to her coronavirus symptoms.
She lives alone at home with her 25-year-old son with special needs. The residents of the area stated that the son who was shocked when his mother was taken, had committed suicide by hanging himself inside the house.
Health Minster Pavithra Wanniarachchi, states that her Ministry has received the research report on the new coronavirus strain.
A special statement was made at the Ministry of Health today (31) regarding the relevant research report.
The Minister of Health stated that the research conducted by the team led by Professor Neelika Malavige, Director of the Dengue Research Unit of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura on the instructions of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has revealed that there is only one variety of the Covid 19 virus in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Prof. Nilika Malavige has further pointed out in the report that the corona variety which is currently spreading in several parts of the island including Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda has been revealed to be similar to the fastest spreading virus variety in Europe.
The scientists at the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine and Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of University of Sri Jayewardenepura embarked on carrying out whole genomic sequencing of the virus, to determine to see if the current outbreak is due to spread of different strains, if there are certain mutations that result in the rapid spread of the virus and to investigate the relationship between the current circulating virus strains to previous strains circulating in Sri Lanka.
<strong>Key findings of the study were: The current circulating strain is different to the strains that circulated previously. It has the mutation associated with high transmissibility due to high viral loads.
The same virus strain is so far responsible for the infections detected in the Minuwangoda, Colombo Municipality area and the Fish market cluster
16 virus strains originating from Brandix, Minuwangoda, the Colombo Municipality area, Beruwala fish market and patients admitted to tertiary care hospitals were subjected to sequencing.
The team of scientists that carried out the sequencing work are Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Dr. Deshni Jayathilaka, Dr. Dinuka Ariyaratne, Mr. Laksiri Gomes and Mr. Diyanath Ranasinghe led by Prof. Neelika Malavige
When
it talks about investment nobody can ignore the views of Schumpeter, who is
regarded as a classical economist that investment is built upon on the level of
returns that an investor gains and expected, which is based on the cost of
investment plus the risk that could be tolerated by an entrepreneur. Investors
are compensated by the return from the investment. Beyond the classical era, the attraction of
investment to a country has been generally dependent on the return from the
investment. Mr. Mike Pompeo indirectly confirmed the view of Schumpeter at the
interview with Ms. Indiwari Amuwatte that the making of investment would
be a pure decision of entrepreneurs, and there are no easy ways either
government or government-sponsored investments in America. Theoretically, it is
a liberal concept of investment that interprets no government intervention or
influence for investments from the point of view of America.
The
wording of Mr. Pompeo summarized the concept of investment in the USA, and it
was a challenge to the attitudes of Sri Lankans concerning investment, and from
the point of view of China. American aspect of the investment is when the
private investor cannot invest the government participates such as space
discoveries.
Before
and soon after the independence from the British imperial administration, Sri
Lanka’s economic policies were built on the idea of Schumpeter, and it was
changed after the political remodeling in 1956.
The role of the private sector took to the government hand through
various strategies such as the nationalization of private investment (transport
system and ports), direct government investments in public corporations, and
contributions to public companies. The strategic changes of government
investments have achieved negative repercussions on macroeconomic factors, such
as budget deficit in the fiscal system, problems in the balance of payment
adjustment process, terms of trade, borrowing for investment by the government,
and many other issues created in the economy. The most hated economic issue was
the public enterprises becoming refugees of the government.
Politicians
and people of Sri Lanka trusted the government investment, but it seemed that
the policy was economically challenging the beginning from the 1970 decade,
creating fiscal and monetary problems that were difficult to comprehend and
coped by politicians and the public. It seemed that except for a few educated
people public did not concern about the matter.
Under
the political administration of Mao Test Tung, China followed opposite views to
American aspects of investment, and Den Zio Ping attempted to change the
Chinese aspects of Investment by promoting cooperation with the US relating to trade and investment, American
policy allowed to give the most favorite nation status to China looking at
changes, however, China did not deviate from the fundamental views of Marxism
and attitude of hegemony and continued investment with the ownership of private
and public. China also helped many
countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. During the regime of Xi Jinping,
billions of dollars invested in developing countries, and they were made in public
enterprises. The volume of Chinese investment in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal,
and other countries is with public enterprises and they could be considered
more than American investments in those countries. The other vital aspect of
Chinese investment was the strategic cooperative partnership based on the
consciousness reached by two countries.
Mr.
Mike Ponmpeo stated that American investment in any country is decided by
respective investors and the investment decisions are purely investors’
judgments despite the decisions of the government. The nature of the Chinese
investments demonstrates that China wishes to engage in government investment,
most probably the Chinese decisions associated with protecting of Investors and
attracting comforts from the respective governments. However, it could be seen
that the Chinese government adopted the capitalist system establishing
government companies for investment in developing countries such as private
companies for the management of investment in the Port City, Hambantota Port,
and others. It is seen that there is a fundamental difference between Cina and
the USA concerning the policy approach, and Mr.Mike Pompeo openly expressed
American views despite the expectation of people.
I
have not visited China, many of my friends who have experience in living in
China told me that they cannot see a vast difference between modern China and
democratic countries, and investment in China dependent on the view of
Schumpeter and practically people of China have capitalist views like in the
USA.
In
this background, why politicians created public opinion against the management
of investments by private investors, and continuing government investment than
they are privatizing to get out from economic burdens to the government? This
is a root cause of economic problems in Sri Lanka and I pointed out the issues
in many of my articles.
The
views of Mr.Pompeo showed the disguised direction to Sri Lanka that the country
is in misguided footage, that the public investments must stay as they are, and
despite the global policy changes after the cold war that the ownership of the
public enterprises should be changed by privatizing or offering shares to
private investors as it happened in many western countries. Sri Lanka could have to get out of the
problem in the 1990 decade, but the cunning politicians and public managers
killed the opportunity at the birthplace.
The
investment talks of Mr.Pompeo directed excellent advice to the country that it
needs to make wise decisions. To increase or stabilize the exchange value of
Sri Lanka’s monetary unit, and to gain relief from the repayment of a massive
quantum of debt could be achieved if the government of Sri Lanka offers the
ownership of public enterprises to the Chinese government than borrowing for
the management of public enterprises.
The same process could be done by American investors too. Chinese public
investment and American private investment could play a similar role. The
difference is the approach of both countries. This action will give a massive reduction of
foreign debt and increase the efficiency of public enterprises with management
acumen and investment stewardship of China or America. The journalist, Ms. Indiwari Amuwatte made an
excellent contribution to Sri Lanka directing the innovative questions to
Mr.Mike Pompio.
If
the government of Sri Lanka allows China to gain ownership of public
enterprises the volume of foreign reserves in Sri Lanka could be increased to
dollars 25 billion and the volume of the foreign debt of the country would be
reduced by 50%. In this way, Mr.Gotabaya
Rajapaksa can uplift Sri Lanka with less foreign debt, a higher value of Sri
Lanka Rupee.
Mr.Pompeo
made a good idea on American investment and private investors in America could
work consistent with the view of Mr. Pompeo, and the government of Sri Lanka
could make toward a positive approach to make to change ownership of them. I don’t think American investors will behave
like the characters in the famous novel Ugley Americans”, they will be more
responsible in the current environment.
The experience of the Asian crisis in the late 1990s guides Sri Lanka to
manage investment policy.
The
views of Mr.Pompeo on the investment would be beneficial to the US, China, and
India as well as Sri Lanka. If Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa promotes his policies to
create producing and production economies with balanced growth in sectors and
provinces the country would be a developed nation.
‘We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield And Mahinda we call to lead the field’ -With apologies to Tennyson
The underlying basic premise of the
Animal Rights movement is the regard for the sanctity of life.
Sanctity of life of all living
beings.
This is highly regarded in Buddhism.
Buddhism and Jainism (both Dharmic
religions) see kinship with animals in the Sansaric journey.
One American Buddhist writer ( Norman
Phelps) in his book ‘ The Great Compassion – Buddhism and Animal Rights’
said as follows:
“Buddhism ought to be an animal rights religion par
excellence. It has long held that all life forms are sacred and considers
kindness
and compassion the
highest virtues. Moreover, Buddhism explicitly includes animals in its moral
universe. Buddhist rules of
conduct―including the first precept, Do not kill”―apply to our
treatment of animals as well as to our treatment of other human beings.”
When someone says ‘all lives matter’
it should not be seen as all lives of only one species i.e. human beings, but
rather as all lives of all species.
Once you are born you have a right to
life until you die of natural causes.
This applies to all species.
This is the natural law.
One sidedness in this context means
that you value only the interests of your species and disregard the claims of
all other species to live in freedom and contentment in a natural environment.
We evolve when we give up
self-serving and self-centeredness, and extend care for others, who are in need
and would benefit from such care. Others must necessarily include animals.
Our moral conscience and life are
diminished when the precious life of another being is taken away by the hand of
a human.
No unacceptable conduct however
painful can justify the killing of another person.
That is the huge difference between
Buddhism and other major world religions.
That is why as Buddhists we must
condemn the killings of 4 people in France recently.
Killing another because he or she
belongs to another faith is wrong.
Three innocent people were killed in
a church in France in a barbaric fashion two days ago for no reason other than
they belonged to another faith.
Such conduct must be condemned
unreservedly.
Likewise, iconoclasm i.e. the
rejection or destruction of religious images of people of other faiths as
heretical, is also wrong and should not be entertained.
Calling
adherents of one’s faith in sacred texts to destroy idols of other religions is
tantamount to hate speech.
Such
conduct must be criminalized through amendments introduced to the Penal
Code.
What
happened at Mawanella in Sri Lanka in December 2018 constitutes the best
example of people blindly following hate speech in the religious texts
and destroying what was sacred to others.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was never scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the latter’s visit to Sri Lanka, officials said on Friday.
There has been much speculation about PM @PresRajapaksa not meeting @SecPompeo.To set the record straight: #SriLanka PM was never scheduled to meet Mr. Pompeo. Given Sec. Pompeo’s short visit, meeting with one member of the senior #lka leadership was deemed sufficient,” Director General (International Affairs) of the Prime Minister’s Office Anuradha Herath tweeted.
Multiple scenarios have emerged in the hunt for patient zero linked to the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda coronavirus clusters.
Head of the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPC), Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva said that 80 percent of the investigations to find patient zero was now complete.
He said that the investigators are looking into at least six possible scenarios and once the probe is over the results will be made public. Of the six possibilities, one is the possibility of patient zero being linked to returnees from overseas.
However, Silva ruled out that possibility as the quarantine process of overseas returnees is handled by the military. The other possibilities are seafarers and pilots who are quarantined in hotels for short stopovers, flight crew members who arrive at Mattala or the Bandaranaike International Airport and are quarantined at hotels, ships docking at Sri Lankan ports or those linked to smuggling turmeric from India.
The other possibility linked to the Minuwangoda cluster is a Ukrainian national who had arrived from Turkey and tested positive while staying at a hotel in Seeduwa.
The Army Commander said that the hotel management had failed to follow the health guidelines at the time the Ukrainian national was quarantined at the hotel. There are reports that some hotel employees had gone home and later reported for work. The Army Commander said there is strong suspicion this could be the main source behind the Minuwangoda cluster, as no cases were detected in the country during the few months prior to this arrival.
Meanwhile, the Army Commander said that the main source behind the Peliyagoda cluster could be linked to fishermen purchasing fish from Indians and distributing it in Sri Lanka. He said that all the possibilities are being investigated and a clear conclusion will be reached. (Vyshnavy Velrajh)
Sri Lanka Police today (30) received information regarding a wedding ceremony organized at a star-hotel in Kollupitiya police division, Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana says.
The police officers who visited the reception hall have observed that the ceremony was taking place in violation of quarantine regulations.
Nearly 35 guests had attended the wedding ceremony in question, DIG Rohana revealed.
A team of police officers subsequently launched an investigation into the incident, he said, adding that legal action will be sought against the hotel management, the organizers as well as the guests, under Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance.
The members of the public were informed yesterday and the day before that a wedding or an event of any sort which gathers a large number of persons should not take place within the Western Province, the police spokesperson recalled.
Meanwhile, the son of MP V. Radhakrishnan, Thivaharan Radhakrishnan, taking to his Facebook account, dismissed the social media claims on his involvement in the said wedding ceremony.
Sri Lanka Police have mounted a special operation to trace those who had stepped out of the Western Province yesterday disregarding the request made by the authorities.
Legal action will be taken against such persons under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance, Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana warned.
He added that reports regarding persons who had avoided police checkpoints to leave the Western Province to lodge at tourist hotels in other provinces have been received.
We had informed those residing in the Western Province yesterday not to leave the limits of the province under any circumstances before quarantine curfew is imposed,” DIG Rohana said adding that details on people who disregarded the request will be collected and those who enter the Western Province after curfew is lifted on Monday morning will be strictly monitored.
Cases will be filed against them if it is revealed that they had left the province on Thursday or Friday, he stressed.
The police spokesperson further said movement of vehicles on expressways have been limited. He added that those who reside in southern areas and wish to use the Southern Expressway for any unavoidable reason are allowed to do so, however, only up to the Kurundugahahetekma interchange.
In the meantime, 24 persons were arrested for violating quarantine curfew within the past 24 hours. According to reports, 1,259 curfew violators have been taken into custody since quarantine curfew came into effect following the outbreak of Covid-19 cases in Minuwangoda. A total of 176 vehicles have also been seized.
It was a great sight to see Paper roll out of Valachenai once
again.
Thanks to our President and his team, including Minister
Weerawamsa, officials of he Paper Mill and the Armed Forces that
contributed to Mother Lanka to bring
back Valachenai to life.
Two years ago I had spent a few cosy nights at Bay Vista in Arugam
Bay and on my way to Laya Waves, Pasikuda, I ventured out to see what was left
of the Valachenai Paper Mill, one of my favourite haunts on my never ending
circuits long ago. I motored to the gates that were shut, held firmly by trees
and shrubs. I alighted from my car walked upto the gates, held the gate firmly
with my hands and gazed at the buildings in ruins, with creepers and trees
growing in them. I was sad, and gazed
for at least ten minutes.
That was my humble veneration. It was the Circuit Bungalow of this
Mill that offered me a home perhaps a dozen times on my circuits to the East
long ago. The purring engine of my Humber Hawk did that distance with easy with
a single stop at a store inspection at Polonnaruwa.
Very recently we had the occasion to get lost in the jungles
around Tantirimale. We were motoring to
Sandamal Eliya to the temple to donate a
wheel chair, to anyone who needs it, in
the ancient manner in inscriptions- agata anagata chatudiga sagasa”(for
the Ven. Monks that came or will come from the four directions)_ and having known the roads once, turning here
and there we got lost in the illuk jungles of Mahawillachchiya. I had for a
moment forgotten that the roads I traveled on in the Sixties, when I commanded
my troops in agrarian services in the march at paddy cultivation, succeeding in
reaching self sufficiency by 1970, had been changed with new roads. We were
lost and illuk was everywhere. It took long to find our way back as the illuk could not speak back to show us
the way. Finally when we reached Sandamal Eliya, very late, Ven Sangarakkita
greeted us and provided dane- a mid day meal to the weary travellers, I inquired
about the illuk that was threatening human existence- growing everywhere. He
replied
Illuk is a nuisance. We set fire to it when it invades us. We
know not what to do with it.”
On the way back after a cosy nights sleep at Miridiya, in
Anuradhapura, it struck me that originally the Valachenai Paper Mill machinery
was intended to make paper out of illuk. Illuk is a stronger product than straw
and did provide both the long fibre and the short fibre that was required to
make paper. Valachenai mill proved great
and devoured the illuk all around and the machinery grounded to a halt in a few
years. All was lost. But not so, due to
the ingenuity of our engineers and scientists. They unearthed for the first
time how straw can be used to make paper. It was then that I came on the scene,
going behind the straw lorries for miles on
end, enroute to the East. The
straw provided only the short fibre and we had to import paper pulp to mix with
the straw. Even then we produced paper till the LTTE took over.
The irony of it all is that we, who unearthed how to make paper
out of straw do not use straw( till
President Gotabhaya got it working recently) while India and China have marched
miles ahead.
I have in my Papers suggested that a few small paper mills be
imported from China or India, set them up in Padaviya, Tissa and
Mahavillachchiya and turn our straw into paper. The cost of the paper machines
and installing it can be recouped in one year from the savings on the obviated
imports of paper. Actually we need not import any paper from the end of 2021,
if only the Government will allow the import of three small scale mills costing
less that a fifth of the cost of paper imports in any one year. If required I
will be there to bell the cat.
Once long ago in 1982 in the Bangladesh Secretariat, about the third day after the military coup,
in the room of the Hon Minister for Labour and Manpower in the Military
Government of General Ershard I was commanded; What can you do for
Bangladesh?”. In short, as an Advisor I
was not wanted. I replied that the Government should approve my establishing a
Youth Self Employment Programme to guide the 40,000 youths that were being
trained every year to become self employed. The Secretary to the Treasury, the
highest official in the land, objected. No one can establish self employment
programmes. The ILO failed miserably in the past three years at Tangail and
Bangladesh is not going to waste any money again. The ILO are the United
Nations specialists and they did fail.” I argued with the Secretary to the
Treasury for a full two hours, with the Minister listening. Finally the
Minister stopped our duel and ordered me to design and establish a self
employment programme. The Secretary to
the Treasury thought he could stop me by telling that he will provide no funds
to which I replied that I needed no funds. I said I would find savings within
approved budgets and vary the remits of officers. That was approved by the
Minister. The rest is history. The self employment programme I designed and
established is today the largest and premier employment creation programme the
world has known, having guided over three million youths to be self employed.
I am quoting instances of my work to indicate that what I suggest
is not out of the blue, but targets that can be achieved.
To get back to the Illuk at Tantirimale I wrote a paper and fanned
it out. Prabath at The Island took up the cause and did publish a version:
Illuk can reduce poverty and save foreign exchange” in the Island of 29/9/20. Lanka Web published it on 23/9/20-
Mahavillachchiya Illuk to alleviate poverty and also to save foreign
exchange”.
Making Paper is a clear area where we can be self sufficient in
any one year. The resurrection of
Valachenai proves it to the hilt.
Once the Divisional Secretary at Kotmale set up a small industry
to make paper out of waste Paper. It was a great success. It is sad to note
that Sri Lanka is perhaps the only country in the entire world that wastes its
waste paper and not make paper out of it.
Go about anywhere in Colombo and one can see people collecting waste
paper and waste cardboard. We do not process it to paper. Instead we export – some 30 tons a month to India
and the ridiculous part of it is that we buy paper and board from India. Truly we need to have our heads examined.
I remember that a few youths on my Youth Self Employment programme in Bangladesh were collecting waste
paper to make paper and they made incomes out of it.
To get back to the Illuk at Sandamal Eliya the Ven Sangarakkhita
had spoken to the chief Venerable Chrandaratana the chief at Tantirimale Raja
Maha Vihare, and he came on the phone to me. I have told him that it is only President Gotabhaya or Prime
Minister Mahinda that can call the shots.
Installing a small scale paper mill at Sandamal Eliya can be done
in three months, working at the speed I did once in 1971 in establishing the
Mechanized Boatyard at Matara. Then my
team did also unearth how to make crayons, within the small science lab at
Rahula College Matara, and Sumanapala Dahanayake the Member of Parliament at
Deniyaya in his capacity of the President of the Morawak Korale Coop Union
established the hand made crayon factory working day and night in two weeks and
that Coop Crayon Factory provided all the crayons we needed. Harry Guneratne
the Import Controller cancelled the import of all crayons and Coop Crayon ruled
the waves till President Jayawardena put a stop to the factory in 1978. That
was the development” that the UNP brought to our country!
Today I can only write out my ideas and hope that my thoughts
reach his Excellencies President Gotabhaya
and Prime Minister Mahinda and spur them to action.
Garvin Karunaratne, Ph D
Michigan State University
Former Government Agent, Matara
Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternate
Programmes of Success, Godages 2006
How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development,Kindle/Godages, 2017
Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has assented the draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution today (29).
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane has put his signature validating the 20th Amendment to the Constitution which was passed in Parliament with 2/3 majority on October 22nd, the Parliament’s Department of Communication said.
The Speaker signed the blueprint of the constitutional amendment at around 11.30 am this morning, the Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said.
The Deputy Secretary General and the Chief of Staff Neil Iddawala were also present during the event.
Thereby the 20th amendment to the constitution will be implemented in full from today (29).
On October 22nd, the Parliament approved the second reading of the Bill with 156 in favor and 65 against. Subsequent to the Committee Stage, the third reading was passed with a majority of two-thirds after having taken a division (156 in favor and 65 against with 01 absent).
The new constitutional amendment will now be considered as the law of the country with immediate effect, Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Neil Iddawela stated.
Hence, the existence of Constitutional Council has been abolished forthwith, he said adding that all provisions of the Act (Law) will now be in operation.
The draft bill has been signed at the office of the Speaker in the presence of Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament.
The 20th Amendment was passed with a two-thirds majority in parliament on October 22, as 156 legislators voted in favour of the constitutional amendment while 65 MPs voted against.
SJB MPs Dayana Gamage, Ishaq Rahuman, M. Raheem, Ahamed Nasir, Mohomed Harris, Faisal Cassim, Aravind Kumar and M.S. Thowfeek had voted in favour of the draft bill, much to the surprise of many.
Former President and current SLPP Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena was absent during the vote.
Apart from the abolishment of Constitutional Council, several other major constitutional changes including the following will take place with the introduction of the new amendment.
Under the observation of Parliament, the President possesses the power to appoint the Chief Justice Justices to the Supreme Court, President of Court of Appeal and its judges, the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Auditor General and the Ombudsman.
The Article which says the President shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint from among Members of Parliament the ministers to be in charge of ministries will be repealed in the 20th Amendment, and the President will have the power to appoint the Prime Minister and the ministers at his discretion.
The President also possesses the power to hold a ministerial post under his purview.
The number of Election Commission members has been revised to 05 and the President is given the power to appoint members of the election body as well as its chairman.
The President has been empowered by the new constitutional amendment to dissolve the parliament after two-and-a-half years of its sitting, amending the previous Article which stated that the parliament cannot be dissolved until four-and-a-half years of its sitting.
The Constitutional Council will be abolished and instead the Parliamentary Council has been introduced.
Being a dual citizen will no longer serve as a disqualification to run for the Presidency or contest a parliamentary election as the barrier was removed by the newly-passed amendment.
The power to appoint the Heads of Departments is now vested with the Cabinet.
Through the 20th Amendment, the number of Supreme Court judge has been increased from 11 to 17 while the number of Court of Appeal justices was raised from 12 to 20.
The Western Province Health Services Office has introduced a new application designed for the benefit of those who are in the medical sector and combatting COVID–19, the President’s Media Division said.
The new app will be instrumental in providing a wealth of vital data, including information on COVID infected, their close associates, quarantine, PCR testing services, observations, decision making and areas closest to the infected.
The app was introduced by a team led by Western Province Health Services Director Ms. Dhammika Jayalath on Thursday (29) during the meeting of the Task Force on COVID – 19 prevention chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which meets at the Presidential Secretariat on a daily basis.
The President pointed out that the new application should be further improved so as to make relevant information on latest developments always available.
There are 350 Medical Officers Health divisions throughout the country. COVID-19 infected persons have been identified in 28 out of these divisions. Members of the Task Force said that maximum possible measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the pathogen to other areas.
A total of 41,000 people, including first and second associates, have been quarantined to prevent the virus from spreading. President Rajapaksa emphasized the need of conducting random PCR tests covering every part of the country.
It is important to comprehensively understand the causes of the increase in COVID-19 infected on several occasions and prevent its recurrence. Random tests were carried out continuously within the limits of Colombo Municipal Council. However, unexpected COVID-19 clusters emerged near the Peliyagoda fish market and Minuwangoda.”
Support from all parties is essential to prevent the virus from spreading locally through supply chains. The President stated that it is the social responsibility of people from all walks of life to follow health guidelines to the maximum possible extent.
Random tests should be carried out at economic centers including Dambulla. The President highlighted the importance of paying constant attention to the possible occurrence of COVID-19 clusters.
Curfew has been imposed in the Western Province effective from midnight on Thursday (29). The responsibility on the part of the health sector during the relevant period is enormous. Curfew violators should severely be dealt with. Curfew passes will not be issued by any Police Station. However, cases of extreme urgency will be exempted.
People should not gather in risk zones. President emphasised that no opportunity should be available to congregate people at events such as weddings and religious functions within the Western Province.
Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga and members of the Task Force on COVID-19 prevention were present during the discussion.
Attorney General Dappula de Livera has given instructions to transfer the probes into the Brandix apparel factory from the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and to a special investigating team from other units.
Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) C.D. Wickramaratne was directed to take the relevant measures in this regard.
The coordinating officer of the Attorney General, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said the directives came after it was revealed that certain CCD officers were tested positive for Covid-19.
On Tuesday (27), the Attorney General directed the Acting IGP to investigate the spread of COVID-19 from the Brandix apparel factory in Minuwangoda.
He also called for a progress report on the investigations within two weeks.
The Minuwangoda facility became the new epicentre of a surprise resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country after a female employee of the factory had tested positive for the virus earlier this month.
There are reports that some who had organized excursions and pilgrimages were planning to leave the Western Province before the curfew is imposed tonight (29), stated Police Media Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana.
Speaking to media, he said that only a limited number of individuals will be allowed to enter or exit the boundaries of the Western Province.
He added: No persons who are not involved in essential services will have the opportunity to cross these boundaries. The same will apply for the expressway. In addition, roadblocks have been set up at the exits and entrances of the Western Province from this morning.
We have received some reports that people who had planned pilgrimages and trips are trying to leave the Province as the curfew is imposed at midnight today.
The meaning behind this curfew is not that COVID-19 will spread after 12 midnight. The aim is to prevent infected persons within Western Province leave the province. Some are allowed to leave within reason. We will look into it if people leave the province without a proper reason.”
We have a team of 4 led by US who are going around Asia trying to build alliances against China and signing defense pacts with each other, conducting naval exercises and even chiding China for being undemocratic, calling China a predator and a violator of human rights & the list of insults goes on. If all that is true, why do these nations have China as their largest trading partner? While China trades with them and calls it exercising mutual goals & objectives, the Quad nations while going to China to forge trade ties and deals have no hesitation in building blocks to go to virtual war with China. Why spend so much on defence pacts, weapons etc when all that they need to do is to simply stop trading with China. They must match rhetoric with action. It looks rather silly blowing hot & cold at China and then going to China for trade or being dependent on China for trade! The Quad should not be jealous of China’s rise.
China is one of the world’s fastest growing countries producing 9.3% of global GDP. China is also the largest exporter of goods. In 1978 China’s GDP equaled that of Zambia. It raised its GDP from $155 in 1978 to $7590 in 2014 and lifted 800million people out of poverty. China’s population equals the total population of North & South America, Australia, New Zealand & Western Europe.
If China could do it, so can other countries and China will not stop them.
China also has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves of 3.21 trillion US Dollars.
China owns about $1.1 trillion in U.S. debt
Over 1million Chinese are working overseas. Over 1million Chinese students are studying overseas. Over 131million Chinese tourists travelled overseas in 2017 alone.
US-China
Over 41% of imports to US are by China with a 2.6% increase since 2019.
In short, US imports from China more than US exports to China.
Almost 80% of US imports from China are telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks
As for US exports to China – Aeroplanes and other aircraftaccount for 9%
The U.S. trade deficit with China in 2019 was $345.2 billion. The trade deficit exists because U.S. exports to China were only $106.4 billion while imports from China were $451.6 billion.
Americans of Chinese descent, including those with partial Chinese ancestry constitute 1.5% of the total U.S. population – 3.8million Chinese Americans.
Nearly 400,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in 2019 – more than one-third of the country’s international students.
In 2018, there were almost three million visitors from China to the U.S,
India-China
China is India’s second-largest trading partner after the US. And two, it accounts for nearly 12% of India’s imports across sectors such as chemicals, automotive components, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals. 70% of India’s drug intermediary needs are fulfilled by China(Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance)
Chinese companies Alibaba and Tencent are pumping billions of dollars helping Indian startups such as Zomato, Paytm, Big Basket and Ola.
More than 90 Chinese investments have helped Indian startups, most of them made over the last five years.
China’s share in India’s total export and import are 9% and 18% respectively in 2019-20. 327 items form 3/4th of imports from China
India imported goods worth USD 62.3 billion from China during April – February FY20 out of a total import of $442billion (Dept of Commerce)
More than 14 per cent of India’s total imports come from China. India still imports 41 of 96 major items from China. Growth in imports in some cases has been over 200% and going up to 5,400%.
Chinese firms supply about 80 per cent of solar cells and modules to India.
The 4G network of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea is largely built by Huawei and ZTE
India’s imports of arms and ammunition parts and accessories from China were to the tune of Rs 3.24 lakh last year and this year till June, it has been Rs 52.3 lakh, an increase of over 1,500%.
China is also a major destination for India’s exports.
India earns over $15 billion by exporting its goods to China. During April-February FY20, India exported goods worth $15.5 billion to China, which was 5.3 per cent of India’s overall exports. Mineral fuel, mineral oil, and aquatic products are the main products that India exports to China.
Japan-China
Trade has increased from $1 billion to some $317 billion over the past 45 years and now represents more than 20% of Japan’s total trade
Japan exports to China was US$134.68 Billion during 2019,
Japan imports from China was US$169.22 Billion during 2019
70% to 80% covid masks are produced in China
Australia-China
China exports to Australia was US$47.55 Billion during 2018
Australia’s main imports from China are manufactured goods, which were worth more than AUD 21 billion in 2018
Australia imports from China was US$56.95 Billion during 2019
In 2018, annual two-way trade between China and Australia reached almost AUD 215 billion.
China is also the largest foreign buyer of Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries products, with imports totalling around AUD 13.5 billion in 2017-18.
China is Australia’s largest source of international students with the services export market worth AUD 11.7 billion in 2018.
China is Australia’s second largest inbound tourist market (as measured by arrivals), and the largest when measured by tourism expenditure. More than 1.4 million Chinese visited Australia in the year ending September 2018 and were the largest source of tourism expenditures (AUD 10.9 billion) into the Australian economy.
Chinese investment in Asia and Oceania was $38.01 billion in 2017. From 2005 to 2017, Chinese firms invested $324 billion into Europe, which constitutes 31.03 percent of China’s global outbound FDI. Over 43 percent ($238.2 billion) of these investments were concentrated in the UK, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, France, and Germany.
Europe and North America (excluding Mexico) has received $544.5 billion of China’s total global FDI outflows from 2005 to 2017.
According to Harvard Business Review Chinese state and its subsidiaries have lent about $1.5 trillion in direct loans and trade credits to more than 150 countries around the globe turning China into the world’s largest official creditor surpassing World Bank & IMF.
While all of the Quad nations are nicely trading with China, they demand other countries not only stop dealing with China but allow Quad greater stakes in their countries on the premise that they are nicer than China & they would protect their nations from China. While the Quad may want to drum war notes, none of these countries want to be at war with China. What the situation looks like, is a sheepish attempt to use China as an excuse to get a foothold into countries and build up their economies – China is just a convenient scapegoat!
