A top Chinese diplomat in Sri Lanka has said that some countries consider Sri Lanka’s barring of scientific research vessels including those from China, as a diplomatic victory.

Speaking during an interactive session with a group of journalists at the Colombo Port City yesterday (Sep. 12), Deputy Chief of the Chinese embassy in Colombo, Yanwei Zhu said that widespread public concern was raised on Chinese social media over the matter, wondering as to why Sri Lanka, as a friendly nation, had taken such a measure.

Mr. Yanwei said that China fully respects the decision of Sri Lanka as an independent and sovereign nation.

However, he said that there is an issue whether the decision was actually made by the Sri Lanka government independently or otherwise.

“Another issue is whether this decision is made by Sri Lanka government independently or because of outside pressure. To be honest, we heard a lot of rumours… When Sri Lanka government made such a decision, China kept silent… Because we respect our friend… We understand the difficult situation our friend has been facing since last two years. Because some countries took advantage of the difficulty of Sri Lanka and gave a lot of pressure to our Sri Lankan friends,” he said.

We do not want to put our friends in an awkward situation. Therefore we kept silent, he said.

However ‘some friends’ considered the decision to bar scientific research vessels as a ‘diplomatic victory’, Mr. Yanwei said.

History and future will prove to our Sri Lankan friends that China is the real good friend and partner and we are ready to walk together with Sri Lanka, he added.

He also pointed out that the research onboard such vessels are not done alone by China but done in collaboration with Sri Lanka, which lacks the capacity to conduct such research on its own.

He questioned which other country with the capacity and willingness has stepped into conduct joint research in this manner with Sri Lanka.

Without the permission of Sri Lanka, the information of this research cannot be shared with anyone, he emphasized.

Addressing the event, Chinese ambassador in Sri Lanka – Mr. Qi Zhenhong reiterated that the friendship between China can be traced back to 2,000 years.

Speaking on the upcoming election in Sri Lanka, the ambassador further said that if the new government is prepared to strengthen ties with China, they are always willing to remain open to promote friendship and cooperation.

(Pics : Kelum Shivantha | Shanika Jayasekara)

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