{"id":93670,"date":"2019-10-08T17:17:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T00:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=93670"},"modified":"2019-10-08T17:17:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T00:17:54","slug":"yahapalana-and-the-united-states-of-america-part-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/10\/08\/yahapalana-and-the-united-states-of-america-part-15\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Part 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Russia and\nChina are now emerging as world powers. They are challenging USA. Sri Lanka is associating\nwith both while continuing its links with USA. This essay looks at Yahapalana\nlinks with Russia and China, with particular reference to USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a lapse of\na few decades when it was battling with Glastnost, Russia is now coming back\nonto the international scene. Russia    plans to become a world power. Russia started\nby complaining, at the start of the 74th<\/sup> UN General Assembly\nsessions in September 2019, that Russia\u2019s role in defeating Hitler is ignored in the\nwest. The sole credit for winning World War II was given to America and Britain,\nwhen in reality, Britain and America moved in only after Russia had weakened Germany\nin the east and the Russian army had arrived in Berlin.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergey Lavrov,\nRussia’s foreign minister, wrote,\nExpunging from memory the Soviet Union\u2019s role in the defeat of Nazism, belittling\nthe Soviet contribution to the victory, but also   retrospectively strip our country of its\nhistoric role as an architect and guarantor of the post-war world order\u201d. (\u2018Russia in Global Affairs\u2019, 20 September 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia has now\nestablished significant\nlinks with other countries. Putin was shown standing next to President\nJi at China\u2019s 70th<\/sup> anniversary celebrations in Beijing. Russia sent\nan army contingent for the parade. In the float parade, the second float\nsilently recognized the Russian Revolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin and\nNorth Korea’s Kim met for their first-ever summit in April 2019. Putin, known\nfor delaying meetings with international guests, was waiting for Kim when he\nemerged from his limousine. The two leaders greeted each other warmly, shaking\nhands and smiling. The meeting lasted nearly five hours, reported the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 18 governments\nhave signed military cooperation deals with  \nRussia since 2015, said TIME. Two Russian warships docked in the\nPhilippines. Philippines is a US treaty ally. In 2019 India signed a $3 billion\ndeal to lease a third Russian nuclear-powered submarine. Russia remains a major supplier of arms to\nIndia, despite the fact that the United States has imposed sanctions on nations\nbuying military hardware from Moscow.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia is\nspecifically targeting countries which have a toxic relationship with USA,\nobserved TIME. Russia is intervening wherever USA is active. Maduro in Venezuela has survived USA\nsanctions thanks to Russian cash and political cover. In Syria Russia rescued Bashar Assad with a\nmilitia campaign that force the US to abandon hopes of ousting him. Russia\nis also wooing the elites in Africa, said TIME.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\nparticipated in Cormorant Strike 2019\u201d, the combined forces\nfield training exercise   organized by\nSri Lanka army.  Sri Lanka is taking\nsteps to enhance naval cooperation with Russia announced the Foreign Ministry.\nVice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, made an official\ntrip to Russia in July 2019 at the invitation of Russia. This was the first\nvisit by a Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy to Russian Navy Headquarters Saint\nPetersburg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka participated at the Main Naval\nParade, Russia\u2019s largest-scale international ceremonial event at sea. Vice\nAdmiral De Silva also called on the Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy. He\nparticipated in a working meeting with high level specialists in military\ntechnical cooperation and was given a detailed tour of a Russian patrol corvette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representatives from Sri Lanka embassy in\nMoscow, had met with Russian Navy Headquarters\u2019 International Relations\nofficers to discuss upcoming visits which aim at advancing cooperation between\nSri Lanka and Russia Naval educational institutions, the first exchange visits\nbetween the Naval & Maritime Academy, Trincomalee, and Admiral Kuznetsov\nNaval Academy, Saint Petersburg, the principal education & research centre\nof the Russian Navy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Sirisena had spoken with President\nPutin at Fifth Summit of Heads of State of the Conference on Interaction and\nConfidence Building Measures in Asia in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in June 2019. He had\ntold Putin about the difficulties in buying defense equipment from Russia due  to a US directive prohibiting his government\nfrom dealing with some Russian enterprises. This prevented Sri Lanka from using\na credit line made available by Russia. Sirisena had sought advice from\nPresident Putin as to how \u2018the problem could be tackled\u2019. He told Putin that\nthat the three MIGs given by Russia in 1972 to fight an insurgency are still in\nservice.  President Sirisena spoke warmly about\nhis interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists agree that China has made a\nspectacular rise from a very poor nation in 1949 to very rich one in 2019. The\ncountry has improved in all aspects and made several advances.  Here is one. China now has the world\u2019s largest\nhigh-speed rail network of 29,000 kilometres. This is about two thirds of the\nworld\u2019s total high-speed rail network. China\u2019s high speed trains travel at a\nmaximum speed of 300-350 kilometres an hour.   \nInternationally, too there are express  \nfreight trains from China to Europe which send   goods faster than by ship. There is a China- Europe express train from\nHamburg to Wuhan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s economy is now very strong.  USA recognizes this. In 2008,  Berkshire Hathaway,  a leading American multinational<\/a> conglomerate<\/a> holding company<\/a>\u201d  invested USD 232 million in BYD, a\nChinese  energy products company (Economist<\/em>  21.9.19 p 67).  Chinese\nbanks are among the largest cross border lenders in Asia. Seven of the top 20 equity underwriters in\nAsia In 2018 were Chinese. America still controls the dollar payments\nsystem but that could change too, said Economist<\/em>. China is now due to become the biggest economy\nin the world, ousting the US from that position.  By 2030 China will be the leading economy,\nsaid analysts. By 2030 China will also have the largest navy and the most\npowerful aircraft carrier, they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s\nBelt and Road Initiative is a massive global network of ports, railways, roads\nand industrial parks spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, with trillions\ninvested in new infrastructure.  China\u2019s\nB&R is supported by a bank, unlike other similar ventures. The \nB&R is  looked at with suspicion by Washington, which\nsees it as an attempt by China to \nincrease its influence in the world. But more countries are joining it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Iraq announced in September 2019 that\nIraq will join China’s “Belt and Road” project.  Iraq is grateful to China for its valuable\nsupport  and is willing to work together\nin the ‘One Belt, One Road’ framework,” \nsaid the Prime Minister of Iraq during a state visit  to China. The two countries would cooperate\non oil and infrastructure projects. Beijing is Baghdad’s biggest trade partner,\nwhile Iraq is China’s second biggest oil supplier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republic of\nChina celebrated  its   70th<\/sup>  anniversary with a very impressive ,very long\nparade which included an \u2018awesome display\u2019 of military equipment. In the  military parade in 1949, only 70 planes could\nbe found so they had been ordered to fly past twice. In 2019 there were 160\naircraft and 580 pieces of military equipment on display., China\nhas developed military abilities that can reach potential adversaries across\nthe globe, said experts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military\nparade was broadcast live, so everybody \nnow knows that the China has invented powerful new weapons . China has\nno recent  experience in  sea or air battles, observed critics,  but they are developing [effective] missiles\nand asymmetric systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmilitary  parade showed off China\u2019s most\nadvanced weapons, some being shown for the first time.  They included the following.  The J-20 supersonic stealth fighters,  the H-6N with an aerial refueling probe added,\n that could be used to deter US aircraft\ncarriers venturing into the South China Sea \nand the DF-26 ballistic missile which, fired from land bases, is\nbelieved to have the accuracy to strike at US Navy’s aircraft carriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on\ndisplay was the DR-8 or WZ-8 supersonic drone,  a reconnaissance drone that that could\npotentially be deployed by aircraft, to infiltrate\nenemy airspace and gather intelligenceincluding\ndetermining the damage done by China’s missiles.It could be used to spot distant targets on very short notice and\nhit them with a conventional ballistic strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dong\nFeng  41 is an intercontinental ballistic\nmissile with a range of 15,000 kilometers, allowing\nit to reach anywhere in the United States in about 30 minutes.  It\nis capable of hurling multiple nuclear warheads  all over the United States, said experts. It\ncould be moved around by road and fired quickly. It\u2019s range of up to 15,000\nkilometers  would make it the  world\u2019s longest-range military missile. Some\nanalysts  say it can travel up to 25\ntimes the speed of sound. It could carry as many as 10  independent warheads,  which can  hit 10 different targets over a wide area. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most closely-watched weapons was\nthe Dongfeng-17,  a new hypersonic\nballistic nuclear missile believed capable of breaching all existing\nanti-missile shields deployed by the U.S. and its allies. Experts \nsay it can breach any defence system. \nThe DF-17 missile is thought to be able to travel at more than five\ntimes the speed of sound. <\/strong>It\u2019s\ndesigned to bypass enemy missile defense systems by traveling at speeds more than\n3,400 miles per hour at low altitudes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DF-17  is a nuclear-capable glider that is\ndesigned to maneuver at high speed to evade anti-missile defenses. The glider is believed to be able to carry conventional\nand nuclear devices. The emergence of such a system would have a considerable\nimpact, highlighting China’s progress in designing hypersonic non-strategic\ngliders, a segment in which Russians and Americans are lagging behind, said\nexperts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If  Mahinda Rajapaksa  was the President, he would have been invited\nto this display and Sri Lanka would have sent a contingent to march smartly  in the parade. I know  that \nthe Sri Lanka navy has gone  to\nChina for training, I do not know about the army. But Rajapaksa is not the President\ntoday. It is Yahapalana that is ruling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Under Yahapalana , Sri Lanka\u2019s relations with\nChina swing from sensible to ludicrous. All countries in\nthe world are falling over themselves to woo China and to attract Chinese\ninvestment, but Sri Lanka has been \ninsulting and demeaning China almost as a matter of habit over the past\nfive years. No country has insulted China the way Sri Lanka has  under Yahapalana, said Chandraprema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the opening of the China financed Lotus\nTower, in September 2019, President Sirisena said in the presence  of the Chinese ambassador , that the Chinese\nfirm ALIT had taken Sri Lanka \u2018s money and vanished, without building the\nTower. This was absurd, said Chandraprema. ALIT is a  highly respected Chinese company\nproducing  advanced missile weapons\nsystems, and it is still there. No money was paid to it for the Lotus Tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But China is not\nangry. President Sirisena  went to China\nin May 2018, to attend Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations\u201d. This was described by the media as  a move\nthat has surprised both political and diplomatic circles over its urgency. At\nthis conference, President\nSirisena met Chinese\nPresident Xi Jinping in a one-on-one meeting. He also met with Prime Minister\nLe Keqiang in a similar meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussions  had  focused on strengthening cooperation in the\ndefence sector and sharing intelligence between the two countries, said the\nmedia. This is a new development in the relationship, said Lasanda  Kurukulasuriya. Sunday Times<\/em> says Sirisena had also signed a defence pact. The\ndetails of that agreement are not known even to his  Cabinet said Sunday Times. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sirisena  also  took along a  catalogue of projects for which he is seeking\nChinese assistance, said  the media. At\nPresident Sirisena\u2019s request, China has given a generous grant to help combat\nterrorism, and said that a Chinese technical team will be sent to Sri Lanka\nsoon, the media reported. China has  donated high tech bomb detecting equipment,\nincluding bomb detecting robots, to Sri Lanka. This donation was made on a request\nmade by President Sirisena, China said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The donation  included three explosive detectors worth Rs.\n90.5 million, designed to sense explosives and weapons hidden in the human\nbody.50 X-ray Security Inspection systems to search parcels and luggage. Three\nbomb detecting robots which can detect explosives and drugs within a range of\n3km valued at Rs. 85.5 million each. 25 Walk Through Safety Inspection Gates\nworth Rs. 6.5 million to detect weapons. 25 Hand Held Vehicle Scanners worth\nRs. 3.2 million and 500 Hand Held Metal Detectors worth Rs. 2.75 million to be\nused by the Security Forces to detect automatic weapons carried by individuals.\nThe total value stands at Rs. 210.5 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have always had excellent relations with\nChina, said local analysts.  Sri\nLanka relations with China is mainly economic, observed Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at an interview. The\ndocking of Chinese submarines in Colombo harbor, some time ago,  was only for re-supplying and not for any\nmilitary purpose, he said. China has not sought to project its\nmilitary might in  Sri Lanka, said\nanalysts.  In March 2019    C.A. Chandraprema,\nin his weekly column in the Island<\/em>,  called for a defence pact with China. He said  Trincomalee and Hambantota should be full of\nChinese warships. ( Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Russia and China are now emerging as world powers. They are challenging USA. Sri Lanka is associating with both while continuing its links with USA. This essay looks at Yahapalana links with Russia and China, with particular reference to USA. After a lapse of a few decades when it was battling with Glastnost, […]<\/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-93670","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\/93670","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=93670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}