Category: Breaking News

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong during his visit to the island nation’s Northern Province, which is close to India, said ethnic minority Tamils have made ‘a correct decision’ in helping ruling Marxists-leaned National People’s Power (NPP) to win the last week general elections.

Sri Lanka’s North is the closest Sri Lankan landmass to the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Northern Tamils have been more close to India due to Hinduism religion, Tamil language, and the culture.

Historically, Northern Tamils have voted for their own ethnic minority leaders, but they mainly voted for the ruling party this time.

Though the NPP got lower votes, they won five out of 12 in Northern Province, giving an unprecedented win for a main political party that was also backed by ethnic majority Sinhalese.

Ambassador Zhenhong’s visit came four days after the election.

“I believe that the Tamil community has made a correct decision,” Zhenhong told reporters on November 19.

“We can see the NPP right first, even in Jaffna district. And this shows that the Tamil community has surpassed its traditions and embraced a bigger picture in looking to the future.”

“We see a new change. It shows that all communities, all ethnic groups and all religions in the country are now working together in solidarity, and I believe that it is for the better future of the country.”

“This afternoon I visited Point Pedro and I was impressed by the slogan written there which is ‘Unity in diversity is the strength of Sri Lanka’. I think this is very correct and I think this is where the hope lies. And this recent general election perfectly reflected this slogan.”

Ambassador Zhenhong’s comments, political in nature, come during his visit to Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s Northern region where India has already started direct flights and ferry between South India and Sri Lanka’s North.

Foreign policy analysts said foreign diplomats usually do not directly comment on local politics, though there have been some instances of political interference by foreign diplomats in the past.

The key minority party in the North, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) which won six seats in the 2020 parliamentary polls, only won two seats in the Province.

Ministers in the previous government have said India has raised concerns over increasing Chinese investments and activities in its backyard of Sri Lanka’s north citing security concerns.

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE CONNECTION

“Today I am here without a special purpose. Today we are here to see how is the life going in the North since recently, specially to see the lives of our brothers and sisters in the Northern province,” Zhenhong said.

“This year for the first time Jaffna supported a party from the South, the NPP, to win the election for the first time in the history.”

“All these show that both Jaffna and the whole Northern Province are making changes and all these make our visit more meaningful,” he said.

China has invested in sea cucumber plants in the North and assured an export market for the products. Some fishermen have gradually shifted to sea cucumber farming due to poor fish catch in the Northern sea amid bottom trawling by Indian fishermen.

China also is in the process of providing dry rations, housing units, and fishing nets for Northern people. The Embassy has also started a scholarship programme for the undergraduate students in the University of Jaffna.

Sri Lankan government had to cancel a renewable energy project won by a Chinese firm through a proper tender process after India complained of security threats, Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry officials have told EconomyNext.

The previous government banned Chinese vessels coming to Sri Lanka for research purposes after security concerns raised by India and the United States.

However, that one-year temporary ban ends next month. Sri Lanka’s new government under Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said they will decide on the research ship after the November 14 general elections.

India in 2014 raised security concerns over a Chinese nuclear submarine docking in Colombo port, where India accounts over 70 percent of the transshipment volume of the port.

Three month later, then President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his bid for a third term to his own party secretary. After the defeat, Rajapaksa accused the key Indian intelligence service behind his defeat.

Sri Lanka’s Marxist-leaned President Anura Kumara Dissanayake promised to prevent politicians using racism as well as communal and religious slogans to capture state power in future.

Dissanayake’s National People’s Power swept the parliament election held last week to record a landslide win with 159 seats in the 225-member parliament.

For the first time in Sri Lankan history, a political party was backed by all Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, and Catholic communities during the election with the majority of them backing the NPP.

The NPP won 21 out of 22 electoral districts and 150 out of 160 electorates, the official election results showed. A Marxists party led coalition has won national elections for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history.

Dissanayaka in his policy statement during the inaugural session of the new parliament said when racism becomes a theme of a political camp; the definite consequence is counter racism from opposition political camps.

“Racism does not remain in one place. One portion of racism will nurture and grow the other portion of racism. We have experienced this in our long history, politics, and society,” Dissanayake told the parliament while addressing the new parliament in which his party had 156 new legislators compared to the last parliament.

“Although we were in different provinces, although we were far apart in cultural views, although we spoke different languages, although we practiced different religions, this election has shown that we have converged into focusing on one purpose and lined up for that,” he said.

“This election has shown that a very strong opportunity has now been created to build national unity, which has been a long-cherished wish in our country.”

“We can have different political ideologies, but I also say one thing responsibly. We will not give in to racist politics in our country again.”

Previous president Gotabaya Rajapaksa used racism against Muslims after the April 2019 Easter Sunday attack. His government before the 2020 parliament election ordered forced cremation of Muslim and Catholic victims of Covid-19 despite heavy criticism from the international community.

The island nation also has seen a 26-year civil war as a result of successive governments’ communal-based decisions while depriving the rights of ethnic minority Tamils. That war killed more than 100,000 people with thousands still missing amid a large number of human rights violations.

The island nation also has seen riots targeted ethnic minority Tamils, Muslims, and Catholics, mainly for political reasons in the past.

He said his government will not allow religious extremism to rise its head “at any cost”.

“Our people have been affected enough by communal conflicts. This land has been soaked with blood. Rivers have been filled with people’s tears. Suspicion, distrust, and anger have been there between us. Today, our responsibility as representatives of this parliament is to not create a state like this for our future children,” he said.

“We have the responsibility to do politics with whatever slogans, it could be economy, it could be democracy. You can use anything you want. But we will not allow the creation of communal and religious slogans to capture political power in the country.”

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (21) issued an arrest warrant against former Minister Douglas Devananda after he failed to appear before the court to testify in an ongoing case.

The case pertaining to a complaint lodged by Devananda with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in 2016, accusing Wellawatta-based businessman Subramaniam Manoharan of issuing two fraudulent cheques, each valued at Rs. 10 million, was taken up before the court today.

Despite being summoned to testify in court today, former Minister Devananda was absent. While his attorney claimed he was unwell, no medical documentation was submitted to substantiate the claim, Ada Derana reporter said.

Given the lack of credible justification for his absence, the Magistrate ordered the issuance of warrants to arrest and produce Devananda in court.

Former state minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan has arrived at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) once again this morning (22) to provide a statement.

Statements are being recorded from him in connection with investigations related to the controversial documentary aired by the British television network Channel 4 concerning the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka.

Pilleyan previously appeared before the CID on November 20, where he had stated his preference to provide the statement in Tamil. He was subsequently instructed to return today after arrangements were made for language translation.

On 06 September 2023, Channel 4 aired a controversial documentary containing startling accusations relating to the bombings on Easter Sunday (April 21) in 2019 which targeted several Catholic churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. The carnage claimed the lives of more than 260 people and left hundreds of others wounded.

Channel 4’s new ‘Dispatches’ investigation titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings’ is a nearly 50-minute-long videos with serious, yet straightforward allegations about the attacks. It was based on the testimonies of high-placed whistleblowers who alleged that senior governmental officials were complicit in this heinous act.

The main whistleblower Hanzeer Azad Maulana was a spokesman for LTTE’s breakaway group Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) led by former MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan.

During a press conference on November 11, Police Media Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said that the CID has launched a probe into the relevant incident as per a complaint lodged by an organization with the Ministry of Public Security against the statement made by Azad Maulana to Channel 4 on the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.

As part of the investigation, the former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province was summoned by the CID on November 12 to provide a statement regarding the allegations in the documentary.

However, Pilleyan did not arrive at the CID on the scheduled date instead requested a new date to provide his statement through his attorneys.

He was then informed to appear at the CID on November 20 and Pilleyan had arrived at the CID at around 9.30 a.m. He had left after around 5 hours after recording his statement, Ada Derana reporter said.

State intelligence has alerted authorities about an ongoing conspiracy to create racial and religious clashes in the south again.

According to government sources, involved in this plot are certain members of the clergy and extremist politicians, who had kept their silence for some time.

They are using social media to spread extremist sentiments, say state intelligence reports.

Abayatissa Thera’s warning

Meanwhile, Prof. Medagoda Abayatissa Thera urges the people to remain vigilant about forces against the country.

Addressing a function in Colombo on 19 November, he said no one should forget the enemy still had its divisive tactics, which could come out in a different form.

What Namal says

In the meantime, SLPP national organizer Namal Rajapaksa, in a post oni X, refers to the withdrawal of an army camp in the north

It is of utmost importance that national security is maintained whether it is in the north or south, he says.

The stunning electoral sweep of the National People’s Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is “an earthquake in Sri Lankan politics”, says Erik Solheim, the former Norwegian peace facilitator in the island nation.

The former diplomat also feels that the strong showing by the NPP in areas populated by Tamils, particularly in the north, marked “a very strong call for a new start in ethnic relations in Sri Lanka”.

Solheim, who has interacted closely with many Sri Lankan leaders, however, warned that while the NPP’s inner core “is for sure non-corrupt, eradicating corruption is a huge task”.

‘Voters angry over corruption’

Solheim, now a committed green activist, piloted the Western-backed peace process which led to a historic pact between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in early 2002.

But the process collapsed, triggering a renewed war four years later that led to the decimation in 2009 of the LTTE and the annihilation of virtually its entire leadership including founder-leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

A former leader of the Socialist Left Party in Norway, Solheim remains a keen follower of developments in Sri Lanka, where he once came under attack from sections of the majority Sinhalese community for allegedly being pro-LTTE, a charge he has repeatedly denied.

In an email interview with The Federal from China which he frequently visits, Solheim said he did expect the NPP “to be very successful” in the November 14 elections but “their sweeping victory was even bigger than I (expected)”.

He added: “It is an earthquake in Sri Lankan politics. For the first time, Sri Lankans elected a president and a party from outside the Colombo establishment, the son of a labourer in Anuradhapura.”

He said the voters, particularly the less privileged, were angry over corruption, felt that the traditional elite had not represented them well, and were upset they had to cut meals following the economic collapse of 2022.

Solheim said that while individually many traditional Sri Lankan leaders were very nice, “as a class they have failed Sri Lanka and made the nation underperform compared to say Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia or Tamil Nadu”.

Is Tamil voting for NPP a rejection of Tamil nationalist politics?

For this, he blamed narrow ethnic appeals that led to a prolonged war – “and no country marches forward in the midst of a civil war”. There was also little ability to formulate a winning economic policy for growth and poverty alleviation.

Solheim said the unexpected scale of electoral support to the NPP – a party otherwise rooted in Sinhalese regions – in Tamil areas was “an astonishing vote of confidence from many Tamils” in the Left-of-Centre party. “I believe it represents a strong desire for peace and normalcy in the north and east. It also comes from a trust that the current NPP is not the same as the JVP (Janatha Vimukti Peramuna, People’s Liberation Front) of the past.”

The NPP, whose core strength comes from the leftist JVP, won a whopping 159 seats in the 225-seat parliament, decimating a divided Opposition. It also picked up seats in the Tamil-majority north and the multi-racial eastern province.

Asked if the Tamil voting for the NPP was a rejection of the Tamil nationalist politics, Solheim said: “It is a very strong call for a new start in ethnic relations. If the NPP is able to deliver for Tamils and keep their support, it represents a historic shift.”

The NPP victory in Tamil areas is considered significant as the JVP, the party’s dominant constituent, opposed devolution of power to the Tamil region, stood for a unitary state, and got the once united north-eastern province de-merged into two – all to the chagrin of traditional Tamil politicians.

The Norwegian, a former Undersecretary General in the United Nations (UN), said the new government’s priority would be to negotiate a better deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and to formulate a winning strategy for economic growth with a fairer deal for the poor.

‘Left-wing parties with old-fashioned ideas don’t win elections’

Solheim added that the NPP’s performance – it also won the presidency in September – showed that the Left can win elections if they put Left-wing sectarianism aside and come up with a policy with a broad mass appeal.

“(Dissanayake) embodied this with his inclusive approach. Left-wing parties with old-fashioned ideas don’t win elections,” he said, pointing to the electoral rout of the once powerful Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal.

“If AKD (Dissanayake) like (President) Lula (da Silva) of Brazil introduces policies for the poor while at the same time working closely with business, the NPP can stay in power for long. It’s too early to tell whether we have experienced a new epoch in Sri Lankan politics or just a change of government for five years. This is the chance for the NPP to establish themselves as a long-term ruling entity with the capacity for a big shift in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Solheim, who often met LTTE leaders including Prabhakaran, reiterated his view that a peace deal could have been found in Sri Lanka in 2002-04. “Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed… The result was the loss of tens of thousands of lives, mainly Tamils but also many Sinhalese. The war of course also brought huge economic hardship to all communities. Sri Lanka was once the shining star in Asia which nearly every other nation wanted to emulate. Now Sri Lanka needs sustained green economic growth for a number of years to catch up with many neighbours.”

Does he, as a Sri Lanka watcher, have a message for President Dissanayake?

“My advice is to focus on economic and ethnic inclusivity. Uplifting the poor is important for all ethnic groups. Added, AKD should respond favourably to the call from Tamils and Muslims for equal rights and self-government,” he said.

Source: The Federal

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong said he is confused over non-cooperation by Sri Lanka’s Northern Jaffna University on education cooperation between the two countries despite active participation from Beijing.

As part of education cooperation, China has been in the process of establishing mutual agreements between Sri Lanka’s local state universities and Chinese counterparts, citing to provide more opportunities to Sri Lankans.

However, the University of Jaffna in the former war zone in the Northern Province of the island nation close to South Indian Tamil Nadu state has been not actively cooperating with the process, the Chinese Ambassador said.

“We don’t know why they are not cooperating to improve the partnership cooperation,” Zhenhong told reporters on Tuesday when he responded to questions raised by journalists at Jaffna Press Club.

“One thing confuses me is that when my colleague communicates with Jaffna University, it seems like the university is not very active in promoting cooperation with the Chinese side. They have something to comprehend,” he said.

“It seems like that university is not very active. This seems like it seems like they are afraid of something, or concede a lot of things. I don’t know why.”

However, Zhenhong said the cooperation with Jaffna University is already in the process and there are some Chinese scholars currently working in a research study in Jaffna University.

“And every year Jaffna students will also go to China for scholarship programs, although the number is not very large for now. But it shows a very good sign between us.”

“I can recall that for the past three consecutive years. The Chinese government has provided the ambassador’s scholarship for students In Jaffna University.”

In 2022, The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka donated 4.3 million rupees to support the welfare of the 82 students of the University of Jaffna under the Chinese Ambassador’s Scholarship Scheme .

The Chinese Embassy last month called applications from the needy undergraduate students of University of Jaffna for scholarships targeting students from low income families.

Culture and education cooperation are used by many foreign countries as soft power to make people-to-people connections.

China and India along with Pakistan have been giving a large number of scholarships for Sri Lankans to pursue higher education.

Both China and India also have been giving training for Sri Lanka’s state sector employees as well as military personnel.