Author: TELO Admin

The Charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Colombo Mr. Hu Wei is reported to have conveyed to the Most Venerable Mahanayake Thero of the Malwatte Chapter Thibbatuwawe Sri Sumangala Thero, whom he met in Kandy on January 11, 2023, his government’s strong opposition against His Holiness the Dalai Lama visiting Sri Lanka and that if such a visit was allowed by the Sri Lankan government the historical China-Sri Lanka relations will be damaged.

In a Colombo-datelined report of January 18 in ‘The Citizen’, Mr. Wei is also reported to have stated that the Dalai Lama is not ‘a simple monk’ but ‘a separatist’ trying to secede Tibet from China and, therefore, the Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka must safeguard the relations.

Not only political analysts or international political observers but any ordinary individual can see the stupidity and unhistorical falsehood of the statement that has been made with ulterior motives in a tone threatening the sovereignty of a democratic country and also the chief prelates of its principal religion. Mr. Wei has also been quoted as saying that Tibet remained part of China; there are over 46,000 monks and nuns in over 1700 Buddhist temples; the overall GDP per capita income, life expectancy and well-being have gone up several fold under the Chinese communist administration; and that Tibet has been transformed from serfdom to ‘democracy’.

History bears witness to the tragic and most heart-rending fact that up to 6000 monasteries and shrines were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people who protested and fought against Chinese military invasion were slaughtered, their women were raped and killed, the precious and well-preserved and valuable Tibetan culture and tradition got progressively eradicated, famines were experienced repeatedly for the first time in recorded history of Tibet with hundreds of thousands dying due to starvation, civilians and Buddhist monks in large numbers committed suicide by self-immolation, thousands of people who protested were tortured and incarcerated in concentration camps and the others those who could manage, including Buddhist monks and civilians, fled the country in their thousands seeking asylum in India and in other countries.

The gentleman spoke of the well-being of the people and the increased GDP per capita income are achievements in almost all world nations as a changing world phenomenon, except in some Asian and African countries due to specific reasons. But the gentleman who made that statement should realize that the people who follow Buddhist concepts do not seek personal or economic welfare but a simple life and the freedom to live their life as they want and achieve spiritual uplift and that is exactly what the Tibetan people wanted and still do and the fact remains that they had it under the spiritual leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and they loved him and look forward to the golden day of his return to their country as its spiritual and temporal leader.

The Dalai Lama fled to India over six decades ago during the initial stages of Chinese military invasion after coming to know that he was invited to China with the motive of assassinating him. The thousands of Tibetan Buddhist monks and civilians who fled Tibet after him are living peacefully and happily in many world nations, telling aloud to the world the sub-human and bestial treatment that the Tibetans got under the Chinese military invaders and what miserable life they are now living under the communist rulers. In fact, the Chinese military rulers will not find even a single genuine Tibetan Buddhist civilian or monk who will say, after these six decades of military rule, that he or she is happy under the Chinese military rule. All Tibetans abroad, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, are continuing to voice for the liberation of their mother land from the military grip of the non-religious communist rule.

The chief prelates of Sri Lankan Maha Sangha had once again extended their invitation to the Dalai Lama for pilgrimage in Sri Lanka under the current state of severe economic downturn back here with strong hopes and beliefs that his visit will help boost the economy to certain extent because he has many millions of followers throughout the world and some of them are heads of multinational companies and globally recognized affluent individuals with prospects of investing in Sri Lanka while on the other hand his visit to Sri Lanka will help boost spiritual tourism because such a phenomenon was witness in Bodh Gaya where the five-year International Pali and Sanskrit Bhikkhu Exchange programme was launched on December 27, 2022.

When they extended the invitation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, they never anticipated that China would take all possible measures to block his visit, like on all previous occasions, because Sri Lanka needed help from all quarters at her present precarious economic condition and that any country would most willingly support such help coming from any source. However, China reacted negatively, instituting immediate diplomatic and other political measures to prevent the visit. Their Charge d’affaires visited the Mahanayake Theros of the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters hurriedly with lorry-loads of dry rations and other relief measures to ‘bribe’ the chief prelates and ‘demand’ from them, citing the purported ‘national welfare’ as a reason, to defer from their intention of bringing down His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Here, they have gone one step further and described His Holiness as a ‘separatist’, implying as if Tibet remained part of China from time immemorial and he was trying to separate it. But stupidity from a diplomat trying to hoodwink the entire world as China militarily snatched away Tibet from its most beloved spiritual and temporal leader and its innocent peace loving and ardent Buddhist followers. The Dalai Lama remains the most beloved global Buddhist leader and the most honored guest of the Government of India for the last six decades. He is the recognized and renowned Buddhist spiritual leader who frequently meets with political and spiritual leaders of world nations and tirelessly conveys the noble teachings of the Buddha all over the world attracting hundreds of thousands of followers and admirers after him from all over the world. How ridiculous to call him a separatist because he wants his own country back from the communist military leaders who snatched it under military invasion!

The Charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy is also quoted as saying that Tibet forms part of China as either Kandy or Jaffna forms part of Sri Lanka. This is the highest level of ludicrousness to which anyone can drop down to and a diplomat of the most populous land has dropped down to that level. Pages of history stand witness to what inhuman, barbarous atrocities were committed by the Chinese for snatching away Tibet from its legitimate rulers and citizens. So let us hope that the Chinese would revisit their strong and rigid stand with regard to the visit of the Dalai Lama to visit Sri Lanka with a noble outlook.

Source:The Leader

According to an article published by Daily Mirror, in 2020 alone, Sri Lanka has exported about 326 tons of sea urchins with China being the biggest buyer.[i] Going back as far as 2016, a sea leech hatchery was established by a Chinese joint venture company ‘Gui Lan (Pvt) Ltd’ centered on the northern peninsula to facilitate the export of these species to China. The company has been registered as a private limited liability company with a registered address in Negombo with two Chinese and a Sri Lankan being named as directors in April 2016. Welcoming Chinese investment in the country, in June 2022, the Sri Lankan cabinet approved a proposal for a large-scale commercial sea leech and sea cucumber farming project spanning 5,000 acres in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Batticaloa in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The government also plans to set up an export village in an area of 100 acres.

As per online resources, the approximate price range for Sri Lankan Sea Cucumber is between US$ 30.39 and US$ 54.69 per kilogram or between US$ 13.78 and US$ 24.81 per pound (lb) in 2022. In 2017, a kilo of sea cucumber was priced at US$21.64 and in 2019 the price went up to $30.39 per kilo.[ii] According to a January 2020 Hindustan Times report, a kilo of sea cucumbers can fetch about Rs 50,000 and some fishermen could even earn Rs. 2 lakh in a single day. [iii] This highly priced delicacy is helping Sri Lanka bring in the much needed foreign currency to combat the ongoing economic crisis in the country.

While the Sri Lankan government is busy counting the money, the local fishermen communities have been suffering. It has come to light that the Gui Lan joint venture has failed to secure a permit from National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka (NAQDA) for its new nursery in Kowtharimunai in Pooneryin. This new nursery is located only a few kilometers away from its Ariyalai hatchery in Jaffna. According to the chief of Pasaiyoor Fishermen Federation P. Mathan, the establishment of this new nursery has led to acres of sea lands being fenced off for sea cucumber harvesting, shutting out the traditional fishermen who harvest prawns for a living. While the company continued its operations at Ariyalai, the Fisheries department in 2017 filed a legal action against it for failing to produce a permit from NAQDA. The case was then transferred to Jaffna Magistrate’s court where it was ordered to release the baby sea cucumbers to the nearby waterways. Pooneryin Divisional secretary S.C. Krishnendran said he came to know about the company’s Kowtharimunai extension only through media reports and that no such permit applications were submitted to the local fishermen body seeking its consent.

The laid-back attitude of the authorities resulted in no proper action has been taken yet. About 3,200 small-scale fishing families have been seriously affected by the creation of sea leech farms, losing their livelihoods during an ongoing economic crisis in the country. A group of fishermen has also started a hunger strike near the Kiranchi fishing harbor because the roads leading to their boats for fishing activities has been blocked due to the permission of a group of fishermen to set up sea leech cultivation boxes. The fishermen point out that if out of 100 fishermen even just 10 set up a sea leech farm, the livelihood of the remaining 90 who catch shrimp, prawns and other fishes is put at stake. Out of the 17,000 fishing families living in the Northern Province, less than 1000 have been selected to work in these farms, leaving the remaining 16,000 Dhiwara families at risk of losing their livelihood and falling into the streets. This has led to continuous protests demanding the closure of the illegal sea leech farms in Punagari, Kirawan and Ilavankuda areas.

The effect of these farms on the marine diversity and ecology has been grave. The lights aimed at the sea urchin production farms across the lagoon are switched on in the evening which affect the movement of fish and prawn towards the shore. These organisms live near the coast or move towards the sea depending on the salinity of the waters. Chinese companies like Gui Lan have constructed several sea cucumber farms with electric fences along the sea shore, restricting the movement of other aquatic species towards the coast during monsoon season. This malevolent practice could pose a serious threat to the long-term sustainability of the region. Sea cucumbers help detoxify contaminants in the soil and other environments, help in nutrient cycling and redistribution of sediments. Moreover, they help other species such as corals to live, making them ideal for bioremediation.

Sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) and sea urchin (Echinoidea) along with starfish are invertebrates that belong to a larger animal group called Echinoderms. These spiny-skinned spineless creatures live on the seabed and can be easily found in oceans around the world. Sea cucumbers have a long, barrel shaped body with soft, leathery skin while sea urchins are on the rounder side with spikes to protect it from the predators. Both of these echinoderms are consumed around the globe as food as well as medicine.

Sea cucumber, which is known as Muhudu Pipinna in Sri Lanka, is found along its Northwestern and Eastern coasts. Traditionally, these creatures have been harvested using wooden vallam and siraku valai, a passive type of fishing gear which is set up in night and harvested the following morning. This method has been popular in shallow waters and near shore areas. Another traditional method is patti valai, which is used to harvest fish and prawn using square-shaped nets. In addition, sea cucumbers are easily picked up by divers, who dive from traditional oru, a type of canoe or even motorized boats.

However, these methods are now disappearing due to the proliferation of large sea cucumber farms. The Ministry of Fisheries leases out sea land plots ranging between one to ten acres on the seashore. The largest fish breeding sites are located near shallow coastal lands due to favorable marine environment including sunlight and sea plants. While all these factors make Sri Lanka a suitable place for sea cucumber farming, large scale production could prove to be catastrophic. These areas are usually surrounded by thick electric fences keeping in line with the pen culture method. About 4000 sea cucumbers can be bred at one time in one acre of area. In a sea cucumber hatchery, the baby animals are nursed up to four months before they are sold to commercial farms run by locals. These babies then take at least ten months to mature and ready for export.

Considered a delicacy in China, sea cucumbers are often served during banquets and dinners. In addition, sea cucumbers are used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to cure impotence, joint pain etc., enhance sports performance and is known to have anti-fatigue effects. All these factors have made sea cucumbers one of the most expensive seafood item that already has a huge market available for business. The demand of sea cucumber has been on the rise which has led to construction of massive farms along the Lankan coastline. Reportedly, the sea cucumber farm established by Chinese companies have led to loss of livelihood of close to 15000 Sri Lankan fishermen families. Reports of protests from these families state that the traditional fishing grounds and marine diversity are being destroyed and are leading to poverty and unemployment.

If the Sri Lankan government wants to tackle the problem and work to improve the living condition of the fishing community, then it can be achieved only through right technology and clean investments from local entrepreneurs. Handing over the coastline to Chinese domination will only bring disaster to the humans as well as the environment.

[i] Majueran, Maya, “Chinese Investment in Sea Cucumber Farm in Sri Lanka also a Threat to Indian Security?”, Daily Mirror, 20.10.2022 https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/Chinese-Investment-in-Sea-Cucumber-Farm-in-Sri-Lanka-also-a-Threat-to-Indian-Security/131-247136

[ii] “Sri Lanka Sea Cucumber Prices”, https://www.selinawamucii.com/insights/prices/sri-lanka/sea-cucumber/

[iii] Chatterjee, Badri,”219 sea cucumbers worth Rs1.17 crore seized in largest seizure in Lakshadweep”, Hindustan Times, 15.01.2020 https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/219-sea-cucumbers-worth-rs1-17-crore-seized-in-largest-seizure-in-lakshadweep/story-O20FnMsd3bSd4HE6HMbYPK.html