Curse of the Dragon in Sri Lanka

By Sanjay Narayan

Chinese nationals and entities in Sri Lanka are seemingly casual about the law of the land and are enjoying their new found liberty. The Chinese government, which crushes criminal behaviour along with democracy and individual liberties with an iron hand in China are not particular about maintaining the same level of demureness in countries where they practise neo-colonisation. On the contrary, China believes in bribing politicians and bureaucrats to achieve their vested interests in the country. The Aragalaya movement whose goal is the outster of corrupt politicians from the realms of power cannot ignore the elements which corrupt them by giving temptations to loot the public coffer.
The recent Supreme Court order denying the Chinese law firm, Baqian Law Group Lanka Pvt. Ltd from engaging in any legal professional work within Sri Lanka as well holding that the Registrar General of Companies has acted in violation of the law of the country by incorporating Baqian Law Group as a limited liability company under the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007 is a classic example of Chinese entities corrupting the Sri Lankan government machinery for monetary gains.
The Chinese companies? rarely undertake serious feasibility studies to assess environmental damage or economic viability of projects. Later on if the project is strategically significant like the Hambantota Port, China may buy and own the project or Sri Lanka can continue to repay debts of these white elephants. Colombo Port City Project has seriously violated the environmental laws which raise serious concerns over the lives and livelihoods of Sri Lankans. The already impoverished Fishing community in the North and East are currently protesting over the Chinese Sea Cucumber farming projects which threatens their livelihood. China simply wants access to the Indian Ocean for which Sri Lankans are footing the bill.
All Chinese projects are implemented using men and machinery imported from China. There are an estimated 100,000 Chinese workers in Sri Lanka and numerous cases are reported against them engaging in illegal activities in the country. A Chinese national was caught for unauthorised entry into the Colombo Harbour for smuggling labourers for the Port City Project. Cases of credit card fraud, smuggling of liquor and live animals, molestation of women, etc are only a few other examples. Chinese engaged in smuggling of live animals like turtles or scorpions can cause serious health hazards in Sri Lanka, as the world witnessed in Wuhan.
Chinese presence in Sri Lanka is destroying the socio-economic- cultural and ethnic fabric of the country. Chinese language institutes and Chinese language boards are signs that they are here to stay. Economic consequence of Chinese presence in Sri Lanka is felt and experienced by the common man while the cultural impact might be slow. But by then Sri Lanka may have lost its own identity and started being identified as an extension of China.