Sri Lanka - China's Israel in Indian Ocean

- In the international relations context, Chinese hegemony is spreading in the world as one reads this article. China will need an Israel type ally in South Asia and Sri Lanka is a perfect candidate!
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By Udara Soysa

(May 02, Atlanta, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Western powers are making major mistakes in its dealings with Sri Lanka while China is making the best usage of it. In Sri Lanka, China had found a vital ally. Sri Lanka will become an important point in the future East- West power struggles. The major mistake that the Western world committed was to allow the vicious Tamil Diaspora to infiltrate into the Western societies. Furthermore, many Western European politicians fell for the innumerable wealth of Tamil Diaspora thus endangering the proper interests of these respective countries.

Sri Lankan war will see its end this year whether the West likes it or not. The Western leverage against Sri Lanka is at minimum with the great backing China is providing Sri Lanka. The Chinese support to Sri Lanka comes both in international, economic and military aspects. Internationally, China is backing Sri Lanka at United Nations at all costs. Economically, Chinese injects necessary financial resources to keep the Sri Lankan economy running while slowing getting a firm grip and a control of it. Finally, Chinese military support to Sri Lanka is well known.

In this context, Sri lanka will push its offensive to eliminate the Tamil Tiger leadership in the upcoming months despite heavy 'western' international community's pressure tactics.

The humiliating treatment enforced on Swedish minister last week proves that Sri Lanka under Mahinda Rajapakse is not at all concern about how West thinks or reacts to Sri Lanka

In the international relations context, Chinese hegemony is spreading in the world as one reads this article. China will need an Israel type ally in South Asia and Sri Lanka is a perfect candidate!

Will Sri Lanka become another African like failed economy and a dictatorship? The answer is negative. Although one might see despotic tendencies of ruling regimes in Sri Lanka from time to time, social realism in Sri lanka will preclude it from becoming a full fledged dictatorship. In addition, economic situation in Sri Lanka is clearly intervened with social realities and unless Sri Lankan regime makes unbearable economic blunders, Sri Lanka economy will able to sustain itself albeit not flawlessly. It is remarkable to note that Sri Lankan economy sustained thirty years of continuous military campaign against the LTTE. It would be fairly over pessimistic to gauge that Sri Lankan economy will collapse in several years and Sri lanka will become another shattered state that could be of no strategic interest. Thus in ten to fifteen years after post-LTTE international backlight, Sri Lanka will become a powerful state/ally that will suite China’s strategic expansion goals in South Asia.

Is there a way out of this to the West? Yes! The model solution for this state of affairs is to engage Sri Lanka in a meaningful and pragmatic mode. Unless Western democracies take long-term policy resolutions rather than heeding to extremist Diaspora weight, the Western interests in Sri Lanka and South Asia are bound to be endangered.

Udara Soysa is a graduate of Oglethorpe University in International Relations. He is also a published author, an experienced journalist and the diplomatic editor of Sri Lanka Guardian. He can be reached at udara@srilankaguardian.org

-Sri Lanka Guardian