{"id":110107,"date":"2020-12-26T17:45:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T00:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110107"},"modified":"2020-12-26T17:45:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T00:45:35","slug":"the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c9c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/12\/26\/the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c9c\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POHOTTUWA GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA Part 2 C9c"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

There are\nthree aspects to a local discussion on China, the role of China in Sri Lanka,\nthe role of China in the world and the role of China in Marxism. Let us start\nwith the last item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest development\nin Marxism is \u2018Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,\u2019 said analysts.\n    China is now projecting its\nbrand of Communism as a possible model for other countries and western economies\nshould take a look at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has\ndeveloped a socialist economy, where government and state-owned enterprises\nhave played a prominent role in promoting industrialization and agricultural\nmodernization. But it has allowed the market to play a decisive role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s\nCommunist Party has made use of the economic analysis of the west. Western\nknowledge on finance, prices, currency, markets, competition, trade, exchange\nrates, enterprises, growth, and management were used by China.China\nhas also recognized property rights and is permitting farmers to contract out\ntheir lands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers\nalso found that the descendants of the old elite were back in business in modern\nChina. It is the descendants of the old elite who are now doing well in\nCommunist China. The grandchildren of the old elite have regained the position\ntheir families once enjoyed, analysts reported. \nThey are more educated and wealthy, less bothered by inequality, more\nentrepreneurial, more pro market, and more inclined to individualism, than the rest,\nsaid researchers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s position\nin the world is going from strength to strength. For years,United States had the most diplomatic posts but in 2020, it has\nbeen overtaken by China. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November\n2020 China established a 15 country free trade alliance, the Regional Comprehensive\nEconomic Partnership (RECEP). RECEP consists of China, Japan, South Korea,\nAustralia, New Zealand and the ASEAN group, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,\nMalaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This is the largest\ntrade pact in the world, today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinas\u2019 Belt\nand Road programme (BRI) is also booming. BRI consists of more than 200\ninitiatives, with the active participation of 138 countries and 13\ninternational organizations. BRI signed 29 more intergovernmental cooperation\nagreements in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belt and\nRoad Initiative is getting on well, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, reported\nChina. Most projects under the scheme are progressing. The China railway express\nto Europe is growing. Over 3,000 freight trains have been operational in the\nfirst nine months of 2020 said China. This represents an 80 percent increase\nover 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s\neconomy has been growing at the mind-boggling rate of 10% in the last 30\nyears.  Covid-19 brought it down, but\nonly by a small margin,  said analysts. China\nis now one of the biggest traders, funders, infrastructure builders and\npreferred lenders in Africa, Latin America, Central and South East Asia said\nTIME. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China sent\nmedical aid to 122 countries and medical expertise to 25 countries. We have\nshared anti-COVID-19 experiences and practices with BRI countries with no\nreservations, reported China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Universities\nin English-speaking countries, especially Britain, Australia and the United\nStates, have grown increasingly dependent on Chinese students. Nearly a million\nChinese students studied abroad in 2018, according to UNESCO. Many chose\nAustralia, the U.K. or Canada, but the U.S. has been their top destination for\nyears. Some 370,000 enrolled in American schools in 2018, bringing $15 billion\nto the U.S. economy and creating thousands of jobs, said the Institute of\nInternational Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world has\nto come to terms with China, analysts concluded. The Western countries cannot\ncontinue to treat China as an outcast and try to undermine its development and influence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA has\ndeveloped the Quadrilateral alliance to combat China militarily. China is\ncultivating one member of the Quad, Japan. In November 2020, State Councilor\nand Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China met with Japanese Foreign Minister\nToshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo, Japan. The two Ministers had candid and in-depth\ndiscussions on bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues\nof common interest, and reached a wide range of important consensuses.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They agreed\nto accelerate negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea free trade area. They\nalso agreed to support each other at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Beijing\nWinter Olympics. The two countries will start \npreparing for the 50th anniversary of China-Japan diplomatic ties  which will take place in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also decided\nthat the two countries will hold a new round of high-level consultation on\nmaritime affairs to strengthen communication between the foreign affairs\ndepartments and maritime law enforcement agencies of the two countries. The two\ncountries will launch direct maritime and air contact between the two defense\nDepartments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nmember of the Quad, Australia faces a problem when it opposes China. Australia\nis today heavily dependent on Chinese students, to keep the University system\ngoing. In 2019, there were 229,000 Chinese \nstudents in Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Australia\none in 10 students at its top eight universities is Chinese. Australia could\nlose about 6  to 8  billion Australian dollars   if Chinese students stay away. At University\nof Sydney ,they provided about  500\nmillion Australian dollar in fees in 2017, almost a quarter of  the \nuniversity\u2019s  2.3 billion revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian\npoliticians lack a coherent China strategy, said   analysts. We have grown used to an\nAmerican-led world and now we are seeing the limits of that. Australia  supports US against China, though China is\nAustralia\u2019s biggest trade partner. Australia  also, like US, imposes sanctions on China and complains\nto the WTO when China retaliates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is now taking the US-China \nwar onto new territory. China has started to advertise in TIME. China\nhas paid for a four page advert in TIME issue of   Dec 21, 2020. This is the first time  I have seen \nsuch a supplement. It is called China Watch\u201d   and is authored by China Daily.\u201d In\nthis  supplement China spoke of\nagriculture, film and music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beijing is going to  \nperform  everything   composed by Beethoven, even  if it takes days and days. Beijing loves\nBeethoven. The Monkey king story is going to be made into a feature film but\nwith a difference, it will be in  Peking\nOpera style with martial arts added. China has developed high  yielding seeds  developed through a  space induced mutation breeding known as\nspace mutagenesis. The seeds were shot into space in a rocket and brought back.\nThese seeds are capable of producing bountiful crops, such as 10,000 tomatoes. The\nrocket used, the Shijian 8, is in the world’s first retrievable satellite for mutagenesis\nin space <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now to the\nrole of China in Sri Lanka. China helped a lot during Eelam war. We were able to end the Eelam war because China threw its weight behind\nus and sent us the required arms, said K Godage. China gave\nthe most assistance. China provided a\nrange of arms, ammunition, equipment, aircraft, as well as artillery, on loan\nschemes. In 2007 they gave    37.6\nmillion USD worth of ammunition and ordinance.\nChinese manufactured T-56 remains the standard assault rifle in use\namong armed forces In Sri Lanka. China\ndelivered its arms through Pakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\nprovided jet planes to Sri Lanka in spite of Indian and Western pressure during\nthe Eelam war. China gave four F7 GS\njet interceptors on a soft loan, in June 2007,  JY 11 three dimensional radar in September\n2007, though India opposed     and six F -7 fighter jets in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the No 5\njet squadron was created in 1991, the Air Force had sought Chinese manufactured\nA 5s, capable of carrying a higher payload, but China gave F7s.  One of the pilots recalled that the Chinese\ninstructors who came encouraged him to  \ntake the plane to 66,000 feet instead of the customary 63,000 feet. We\nhad to wear space-like suites. You could see the entire length and breadth of\nSri Lanka from that height. It was a breath-taking sight, he said. But Air\nForce pilots had to be sent to Pakistan to receive training in jet ground\nattack maneuvers as the Chinese were not  \nprepared to share experience and knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has\ncontinued to help Sri Lanka financially after the Eelam war ended. From 2006 to\nAugust 2020, China has given US$ 13 billion as infrastructure investment.  Thereafter China gave Rs 3.4 million to\nUniversity of Ruhuna to fund a new Multimedia Centre. China told Sri Lanka at a\nspecial meeting in the Chinese embassy, that all necessary assistance would be\nprovided to control Covid 19. Thereafter, China provided a US$ 90 million grant\nfor medical care, education and water supplies specifically for coping with the\nCOVID-19 pandemic, said economist Ganeshan Wignaraja. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the\nearly 2000s, China has become an important provider of commercial loans to Sri\nLanka for infrastructure projects. US says that by accepting such loans Sri\nLanka is now stuck in a Chinese \u2018debt trap\u2019. Sri Lanka says no. Sri Lanka owes\nmore of its external public debt to financial markets and multilateral and bilateral\nlenders than to China. Sri Lanka\u2018s debt to China amounted only to US$5 billion\nin 2018, about 6 per cent of GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has offered to help Sri Lanka become economically\nindependent. In December 2020 China said it would build another tyre factory in\nMatugama with an investment of US$ 600 million, similar to the tyre factory in Hambantota.\nChina also plans to build an automobile assembling plant in Sri Lanka in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\nshould look at intensifying exports to China and try to move out of the comfort\nzone of exporting mainly to the EU and US, said Palitha Kohona. He advised all\nlocal exporters to try to get some \u2018Chinese digital advertising space\u2019 in\nChinese digital media followed by high-end buyers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China and Sri\nLanka have enjoyed warm diplomatic ties since Sri Lanka first recognized China\nin 1950, supported China\u2019s accession to the United Nations and signed a rubber-rice\nbarter deal in 1952 observed Ganeshan Wignaraja. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China always\nspeaks of the traditional friendship and cooperation between Sri Lanka and\nChina.  China keeps recalling this,\nthough Sri Lanka has forgotten all about it. China makes a special fuss of the Rubber\nRice pact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Rubber-rice trade agreement with China in 1952\nwas greeted with considerable dismay in the US and Sri Lanka came under great\npressure. Sri Lanka signed the rubber rice agreement despite strong opposition\nby US. The Rubber Rice pact was at once a vigorous demonstration of Sri\nLanka independence in external relations and her capacity to withstand pressure\nfrom western powers, said historian K.M. de Silva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pact was renewed\nevery five years and was in operation for 30 years, till the early 80s, when\nSri Lanka was self sufficient in rice and China could buy natural rubber\nwithout any restriction from producing countries.  China appreciated that Sri Lanka had sold\nthem natural rubber when all other rubber producing countries declined due to\nwestern pressure. China has never forgotten this. A grateful China has remained\nSri Lanka most dependable and valuable ally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is at\npresent a happy relationship between China and Sri Lanka. <\/strong>The sincerity of the friendship has never been questioned. China\nhas been very supportive of Sri Lanka and very encouraging too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China told\nSri Lanka in 2016 You have 65,000\nkilometers of land.  You    always say a small island country. No. Sri\nLanka is a big country. It is a great country. You have good culture. You have\nlong history. You have a legal system. Education is okay. You should be proud\nof the culture, history and your country\u2019s conditions. So why do you call\nyourself a tiny island\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2020, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted\nthat China\u2019s policy towards Sri Lanka had always been consistent, and China\nwould continue to be Sri Lanka\u2019s reliable friend. China, as in the past, would be Sri Lanka\u2019s\nlongtime partner in prosperity and growth, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China stands for the country\u2019s sovereignty, territorial integrity\nand independence. We will not allow any outside influences to interfere with\nmatters that are essentially internal concerns of Sri Lanka, Minister Yi said.  China appreciated the fact that Sri Lanka has\nsupported its One China policy”. Sri Lanka has no diplomatic relations\nwith Taiwan.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\nreciprocated. People of Sri Lanka have warm feelings towards China not only\nbecause it has assisted us in economic, security and diplomatic fields at our\nhours of need but also because it has inspired Sri Lanka to remain nonaligned\nand also without being a strategic partner of any foreign power, said the Sri\nLanka China Friendship Society.  China has not sought to project its\nmilitary might in Sri Lanka. China has never compelled us to sign military   agreements, unlike US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are to\nchoose from whom to borrow, we would choose a genuine friend and China is a\ntrue friend. Also Sri Lanka noted that China has the financial capacity to help\n Sri Lanka, which the others don\u2019t. Sri\nLanka is open to investments from any country, but only China was there to help\nwhen the country needed it the most, said Sri Lanka . Chinese aid to Sri Lanka is many times more than the aid from western\ncountries such as US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\nstresses its long relationship with China. Sri Lanka usually forgets this. China\nDaily\u201d released a time line in 2014. This time line said, China and Sri Lanka\nestablished diplomatic relations on Feb. 7, 1957.  In 1986, Chinese President Li Xiannian paid a\nvisit. In 1996 Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji paid a three-day official visit to\nSri Lanka  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In 2005, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited\nSri Lanka. The two sides issued a joint communiqu\u00e9 committing them to\ndeveloping an all-round cooperative partnership featuring sincere support and\neverlasting friendship, continued the Time line.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 27-30,\n2013, Rajapaksa paid a four-day state visit to China at the invitation of\nChinese President Xi Jinping. The two sides agreed to upgrade their relations\nto a strategic cooperative partnership, and vowed to promote cooperation in\nsuch areas as trade, investment, tourism and defense, said Yime line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 22,\n2014, Xi met Rajapaksa in Shanghai on the sidelines of a summit of the\nConference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.  China\nDaily<\/em>  time line ended there. It is\nChina which is recording this, not Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri\nLanka-China relationship is looked after by China, not Sri Lanka. Sinhala is\ncurrently taught as a major language in several Chinese universities. Apart\nfrom Yunnan University, the University of Beijing Foreign Studies University,\nChongqing Normal University and Minzu University are among them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhala\nLanguage Studies Department was established at the Faculty of Foreign\nLanguages, Yunnan University, China. Around 25 students are studying it. Sugath\nRatnayake is the first Sri Lankan lecturer there.  He has been working as an Instructor for the\nSinhala Service of China International Radio in Beijing Three Chinese lecturers\nwho have graduated in Sinhala from the Beijing University of Foreign Studies\nare also teaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Sri\nLanka embassy in China does not know Chinese. Of the 20 Sri Lankans in the Sri\nLankan Embassy in China not one can speak fluent Chinese. Neither can I, said\nKohona when taking up duties as ambassador to China in 2020. But he will learn\nChinese as soon as possible. ( Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS There are three aspects to a local discussion on China, the role of China in Sri Lanka, the role of China in the world and the role of China in Marxism. Let us start with the last item. The latest development in Marxism is \u2018Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,\u2019 said analysts.     China is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}