By Harsha Josephine Antony | On Tue 16 Aug 2022 | 7.00 pm IST |
Chinese military survey ship Yuan Wang 5 arrives at Hambantota International Port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. According to a port official who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media, Yuan Wang 5 will now berth for just three days to stock up on fuel, food, and other necessities.
After a several-day delay due to resistance from India, which vies with China for influence in crisis-hit Sri Lanka, a Chinese military survey ship arrived in the Chinese-built port of Hambantota on Tuesday. India had objected to the docking of the Yuan Wang 5, described by analysts as a high-tech ship for detecting objects in space, because it believes China may utilise the port, which is close to the key Asia-Europe commerce route, as a military base. Sri Lanka, struggling with its worst economic crisis in decades, first gave the ship permission for a five-day replenishment stay at Hambantota beginning Aug. 11. According to a port official who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media, Yuan Wang 5 will now berth for just three days to stock up on fuel, food, and other necessities.
Sri Lanka requested China postpone the visit.
The country had requested that China postpone the vessel’s arrival, claiming more talks were necessary. Sri Lanka said on Monday that it had asked China to postpone a planned visit by a Chinese ship to the island nation after initially allowing its arrival this week, bowing to diplomatic pressure from neighbouring India to keep the military vessel out. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said on July 12 that the ship’s arrival for this month had been approved. “As a result of the necessity for additional deliberations, the ministry has informed the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Colombo to postpone the vessel mentioned above’s visit to the Hambantota port,” the ministry said in a statement.
India’s concern about Yuan Wang 5
New Delhi is concerned that China, India’s larger and more powerful opponent, may exploit Hambantota as a military base in its neighbourhood. The $1.5 billion port is located near the vital shipping route between Asia and Europe. Late last month, India said it was watching the ship’s scheduled visit, adding that it would safeguard its security and economic interests. India has expressed its displeasure verbally to the Sri Lankan administration. After New Delhi voiced alarm over a Chinese Navy ship’s scheduled visit to a port in India’s southern neighbour Sri Lanka, China said on Friday, when asked about the ship dispute, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told at a routine press briefing that China’s relations with Sri Lanka were “not aimed at third parties.”India is concerned that China would utilise the Chinese-built and leased the port of Hambantota as a military post in its neighbourhood. The $1.5 billion port is located near the vital shipping route between Asia and Europe. India-China relations have been strained since violent confrontations on their Himalayan border killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers two years ago.
The Chinese surveillance ship Yuan Wang 5
According to foreign security analysts, the Yuan Wang 5 is one of China’s most advanced space-tracking ships, designed to follow satellite, rocket, and intercontinental ballistic missile launches. According to the Pentagon’s yearly report on China’s military modernisation, the Yuan Wang ships are operated by the People’s Liberation Army’s Strategic Support Force (PLA). The Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka, a Sri Lankan consulting firm, stated on its website that the Yuan Wang 5 would be in Hambantota for a week and would “conduct space tracking, satellite control, and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September.”
India and China’s relationship with Sri Lanka
After failing to repay its debt, Sri Lanka formally turned over commercial operations at its main southern port to a Chinese business on a 99-year lease in 2017. China is one of Sri Lanka’s largest lenders and has supported airports, roads, and railroads, which has alarmed India, which is now attempting to regain lost territory. In 2014, Sri Lanka enraged India by allowing a Chinese submarine and a cruiser to dock in Colombo. China and India have attempted to strengthen their influence in Sri Lanka, which is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its independent history, although India has offered the most assistance this year. Before the ship arrived, India provided the Sri Lankan air force with a Dornier 228 aircraft for maritime surveillance. At a handover ceremony, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared the beginning of naval surveillance cooperation between his country’s navy and air force and India’s navy.
