The Hambantota Port project is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cherished dream. Recently he inaugurated this project to make his dream a reality. The Late former President JR Jayewardene too similarly dreamt of the Trincomalee Port project . Jayewerdene ‘s cherished dream was to lease out the Trincomalee Port and the oil Installations to a foreign country with the view to make it a world famous commercial hub and an economic pivot . That dream of Jayewardene turned into a nightmare when India with the backing of the Soviet State in order to forestall the possibility of the Port passing to the hands of another foreign country began training the Sri Lanka (SL) Tamil rebels on arms and weaponry.
India which got wind of the fact that the JR Jayewardene Govt. was contemplating to lease out the Trinco Port and Oil installations to America , became apprehensive that such an action will be a threat to its National security, while the Soviet State was also of the view that it will pose a threat to its hegemony over Asia. The upshot of these fears was the eruption of the North East war in SL.
In an attempt to end this war , JR Jayewardene signed an agreement with India. The following clause was incorporated in the annexure to this agreement:
‘Trincomalee or any other Ports in Sri Lanka will not be made available for military use by any country in a manner which is prejudicial to India’s interests’.
Subsequently , both countries have not officially declared that the Indo Lanka agreement and the clauses therein have been abrogated . Owing to this , it is apparent the Hambantota port project progressing with Chinese aid is being looked upon with suspicion and doubt by India and Western countries led by America . At the same time it is impossible to imagine that Mahinda will allow his Hambantota project dream turn into a nightmare as what became of Jayewardene’s dream. Yet , there exist misgivings and doubts among the security analysts and the media world over that the Hambantota project which is being constructed with Chinese aid will some day be used for military purposes by China.
This issue surfaced at the Asia Pacific submarine conference held in Singapore last year . A Journalist asked from the Deputy Director of the General office of the Chinese Navy Headquarters who was China’s representative at the conference , whether China would make use of naval facilities in SL to base its Navy ships ? The Chinese Deputy Director’s answer was as follows :
‘ China’s Naval vessels have stopped at SL ports for re fuelling and replenishment of supplies , but the arrangements were purely technical. In the two years , 2007 and 2009 , our Navy ships have stopped at SL because it is indeed a very good mid-point in their journey to Pakistan to participate in the Naval exercises there, though there is speculation that the Chinese may want to have use of a naval base in SL to secure Sea Lanes through which its energy supplies are transported. China’s co operation with the South Asian countries - SL, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the areas of ship building and Ports construction was purely commercial………..’
The above story relates by implication China’s aims in regard to its aid to SL to build the Hambantota Port . The method and manner in which China is demonstrating its power over South East Asia , and its seeking to take control of the South China Sea lanes have given rise to doubts about China’s motives and objectives in relation to SL Hambantota Port project.
The following reports pertaining to China’s widespread ramifications also heighten the suspicions : China, in March this year, has given an unambiguous message to the USA that South China Sea is of `core’ interest to its territorial integrity, thus raising the strategic status of the area to that of Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.
Alerted by China’s assertions, backed by military activism, its neighbors including the ASEAN member countries sought American assistance which was immediately assured. Addressing the recent ASEAN Regional Forum, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared, “The US has a `national’ interest in freedom of navigation and respect for international law in the South China Sea.” By openly wading into the disputed zone, the US offered the ASEAN and other neighbors to build a more coherent `regional’ response to the Chinese activism.
The Chinese message was preceded by a series of pin-prick attacks on Vietnamese fishermen and oil exploration activities in the disputed Paracel and Spratly islands. The Vietnam Foreign Ministry strongly protested in November last when two Chinese fishery patrol ships visited Paracel islands and one medical ship to one of the islands in Spratly Archipelago describing the act as violation of its sovereignty over these islands. China also forced British Petroleum (BP) company to withdraw from a contract signed with Vietnam for oil exploration in the latter’s Exclusive Economic Zone and separately awarded contracts to three of its own oil companies for exploration in and around the disputed islands. Air and Naval patrolling threatened Vietnams oil and gas exploration activities in the area. The Chinese ships detained Vietnamese ships and fishermen, imposing a penalty of 8000 USD per ship, and forced the fishermen to abandon what they claimed to be their traditional fishing areas.
China has in the recent days demonstrated a continuous and significant increase in its military activities and economic exploitation in the South China Sea.
It has reportedly held 6 military exercises in the first three months of this year in comparison to only one such exercise during the same period in the year 2009;
In mid-April this year, about 30 warships from Baihai, Donghai and Nanhai bases exercised near Paracel islands;
Two destroyers and one combat support ship were deployed to patrol the Cuarteron reef in Spratly islands;
Three warships and one Maritime Administration ship anchored on the islands to deter the Vietnamese venturing into the area for fishing or oil/gas exploration;
China has also commenced regular month-long patrols of the estuary area of Tonkin Gulf, the Paracel and Spratly islands since April this year.
It has upgraded the nuclear submarines base on Hainan islands and naval establishments on woody islands, Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross Reef; and Constructed an airfield on Triton island for operation of military aircraft.
The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army’s Navy carried out its own massive live fire exercises in East China Sea from June 30 to July 5, 2010 in advance of the declared US military exercises that followed during July-August with Japan, Vietnam and South Korea. China’s East Sea Fleet, South Sea Fleet and North Sea Fleet participated in the exercises that practiced mine sweeping, surface strikes training, simulated and live air to air/air to surface/surface to air missile operations. These operations covered eight fishery zones which China claimed are within its own exclusive economic zone, and other areas often being visited by US naval and air reconnaissance missions. Notwithstanding strong public opposition to participation of the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, the latter has exercised with naval and air forces of Japan, Vietnam and South Korea in East China Sea, South China Sea and Yellow Sea. In response to China’s opposition to any foreign warships or aircraft entering the Yellow Sea, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, stated that Yellow Sea is an open sea and they would hold military activities there.
However, reports of its seeking naval bases in Maldivian islands and in the Sea of Aden, while simultaneously building modern port facilities in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan would not fool any one of its Naval ambitions in the Indian Ocean. In the circumstances , it is the view of some that if any day China utilizes the Hambantota Port for military exercises , not only India even the Western countries led by America will sharply react to it. In that event , there is room for Mahinda’s cherished Hambantota Port dream turning into a gruesome nightmare , much worse and horrendous than the nightmare Jayewardene experienced in connection with his Trincomalee Port.
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