Politics

Signs advertise Colombo Port City: The development is said to give Beijing sweeping powers to oversee projects for the financial hub worth $1.4 billion. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
International relations

China offers Sri Lanka a lifeline as critics question cost

Yearlong talks yield $500m loan thought to carry 'geopolitical conditions'

20 April 2021
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, center, sings the national anthem during Independence Day celebrations in Colombo on Feb. 4. Rajapaksa's government is under pressure ahead of a U.N. Human Rights Council session over issues of accountability for alleged war crimes toward the end of the country's quarter-century long armed conflict in 2009.
Politics

Sri Lanka faces renewed pressure over war crime accountability

Ahead of UN human rights session, high commissioner demands targeted sanctions

10 February 2021
Shipping containers are seen at the main port in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The country's cabinet decided Monday that the East Container Terminal at the port would be wholly owned by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
International relations

Sri Lanka drops India and Japan from port partnership

Surprise unilateral decision follows strikes by labor unions

4 February 2021
Port of Colombo in 2019: Sri Lanka and India recently agreed on terms for developing the port's Eastern Container Terminal with Indian company Adani Group. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
International relations

India strikes hard bargain in Sri Lanka for stake in Colombo port

With eyes on growing Chinese influence, New Delhi ensures its interests get priority

25 January 2021
Plans to upgrade roads in Sri Lanka and modernize its bus network were part of the U.S. aid package. (Photo by Makoto Okada)
International relations

US yanks $480m aid to Sri Lanka with eye on China

Grant cancellation seen pushing Indian Ocean nation closer to Beijing

5 January 2021
Sri Lanka has borrowed heavily to fund the development of infrastructure, such as ports. 
International relations

Sri Lanka to scrap Japan-funded infrastructure projects

Some see pivot toward Beijing, even though Chinese loans are more expensive

29 December 2020
A demonstrator at a cemetery in Colombo on Dec. 23 holds a placard decrying the government's mandatory cremation of COVID-19 victims.
Politics

Sri Lanka stokes Muslim and Christian ire with COVID burial rules

Rajapaksa's forced cremations of minority victims worsen human rights record

25 December 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. India and China see a chance to deepen their geopolitical influence in cash-strapped and increasingly vulnerable Sri Lanka and the Maldives, both strategically located in the Indian Ocean.
Asia Insight

India and China compete over Indian Ocean debt-relief diplomacy

Sri Lanka and Maldives seek bailouts as Asian giants dangle dollars to gain edge

1 December 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visit the container terminal of Cosco in Piraeus in November 2019: has there ever really been such a thing as Chinese debt trap diplomacy?
Opinion

The myth of China's 'debt trap' diplomacy

Biden presidency likely to ease US-China acrimony over infrastructure

25 November 2020
U.S. sailors train near Diego Garcia, a small island in the Indian Ocean that serves as a crucial U.S. military base in a part of the world where Washington is intent on beefing up its presence. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy)
Indo-Pacific

US counters China in Sri Lanka and Maldives by driving a wedge

Pompeo announces opening of Male embassy and calls Communist Party a 'predator'

30 October 2020
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, left, pictured with his brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is turning to China to help deflect international criticism of the country's record on human rights during its long civil war. (Source photos by Rie Ishii and Reuters)
International relations

Sri Lanka assured of China's help in burying post-war obligations

With UNHRC seat, Beijing expected to shield Rajapaksa from human rights scrutiny

28 October 2020
Sri Lanka's government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion in foreign debt. (Source photos by Reuters) 
International relations

Sri Lanka turns to China rather than IMF to avoid default

Relations with US-led multilateral lender strained by past misadventures

12 October 2020
Political opponents are critical of and lawyers concerned with a constitutional amendment that is to give Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa autocratic powers, while the business community is expectant of a better economy.
Politics

Sri Lanka Rajapaksa clan presses for imperial presidency

Constitutional amendment includes free hand to appoint justices and police chiefs

1 October 2020
A ban on the slaughter of cattle will end up increasing Sri Lanka's cattle population and send herds roaming across many parts of the country, the vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka says.
Politics

Sri Lanka cattle-slaughter ban mimics India's slight of Muslims

China-leaning Mahinda Rajapaksa seeks political gains with Modi-style policy

19 September 2020
Foreign workers on a construction site in Ahmadi, Kuwait, are threatened not only by COVID-19 but also potentially by unemployment in a draft law. 
International relations

Kuwaiti dream of cutting foreign workers threatens Indians most

Fewer jobs, cheaper oil and COVID-19 may reduce Filipinos and Pakistanis as well

13 August 2020
Xi Jinping waves next to Mahinda Rajapaksa, pictured in September 2014: there is a real possibility that Sri Lanka will rely on Chinese loans to avert a macroeconomic crisis.
Opinion

Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa restoration is complete. What comes next?

Government may have to rely on new Chinese loans to avert a macroeconomic crisis

11 August 2020
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother have a difficult economic path ahead of them but can count on financial favors as China, India, the U.S. and Japan vie for influence.
International relations

Sri Lanka voters hand Rajapaksa strength to face India and China

Washington tweets its concern of the strategic island's indebtedness to Beijing

8 August 2020
Mahinda Rajapaksa waves at supporters during a campaign rally ahead of Sri Lanka's Aug. 5 parliamentary election.
Politics

Rajapaksa family secures clear mandate in Sri Lanka election

Win may boost ties with Beijing, extending links formed under Mahinda presidency

7 August 2020
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, center, greets his party's candidates at a campaign rally ahead of the country's parliamentary election on July 22.
Politics

Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections: Five things to know

Officials vow 'infection-free' poll as question of China's influence looms

4 August 2020
Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets supporters at Anuradhapura on July 3: Sri Lankans should be suspicious of the president's desire for more power.
Opinion

Sri Lankan president looks to consolidate power in delayed election

Coronavirus may push down turnout and give Rajapaksa majority to change constitution

27 July 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, pictured here next to Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president of Sri Lanka, appears to have outplayed India and the U.S. in a strategically located island nation that votes for its parliament in a little more than two weeks.
International relations

China poised for diplomatic windfall in Sri Lanka elections

Beijing backs politicians and influential Buddhist leaders, expert says

20 July 2020
Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, left, has appointed a committee to examine concerns about the East Container Terminal project at Colombo Port. Critics charge the project is an attempt to distance Sri Lanka from India, led by Prime Minister Modi. (Nikkei Montage/Source photo by AP/Getty Images/Rie Ishii) 
International relations

Sri Lanka's India ties strained as Rajapaksa rethinks port deal

New president keeps 'Quad' at arms length and cozies up to China

10 July 2020
Indians wait to board a repatriation flight from Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City, on May 9: There are reports that more than 400,000 Indians worldwide are trying to return home. © AFP/Jiji
Coronavirus

Coronavirus wrecks South Asian migrant livelihoods in Middle East

Some 900,000 stranded workers to test health care systems and economies

20 May 2020
Staff at INHS Asvini, an Indian navy hospital in Mumbai, attended a ceremony in early May to honor frontline health care workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. 
International relations

India sends hydroxychloroquine to Africa in war on coronavirus

Aid initiative to fill pandemic leadership failings of China and the US

18 May 2020
During the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure. Younger brother Gotabaya, right, has adopted a similar strategy.
International relations

Sri Lanka piles on more Chinese loans amid virus and debt crisis

Despite $4.8bn due this year, Rajapaksa reportedly agrees $1bn in new loans

15 May 2020