China responds to allegations in New York Times article

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo today issued a statement in response to the allegations levelled in an article published by The New York Times with regard to the deal made with the Sri Lanka Government to take over the Hambantota Port.

“The Embassy has noticed the New York Times’ article published on June 25, as well as the clarifications and responses by various parties from Sri Lanka, criticizing it full of political prejudice and completely inconsistent with the fact,” it said.

The Embassy stressed that China has always been pursuing a friendly policy toward Sri Lanka, firmly supporting the latter’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and opposing any country’s interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. 

The Embassy said that it is encouraging that all sectors of the Sri Lankan society highly appreciate China’s tremendous support and selfless assistance for ending the civil war and post-war reconstruction in the Island nation. 

“Despite any interference from a third party, China would like to work together with Sri Lanka to actively implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and concentrate unwaveringly on our fixed goals, continuously promote the pragmatic cooperations under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiatives following the “golden rule” of “extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits”, to better benefit the two countries and the two peoples.”