All in a day: Sri Lanka reaffirmed one China, but blocked spy vessel's visit

Last week was quite dramatic as Colombo careful balanced ties with China while placating India's concern over the visit of the Chinese spy vessel, Yuan Wang 5. The vessel was expected to dock at Hambantota port on August 11but was deferred after India raised the matter with Sri Lanka over its security worries.

Interestingly, on Thursday, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe reaffirmed the "One China" policy, around the same time when the discussions were on about denying entry to the Chinese vessel.

The reaffirmation came amidst the crisis in the Taiwan Straits and Beijing calling on the global community to stand by the 'One China' principle. Sri Lanka joined Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan’s Taliban in reaffirming the policy, which is dear to Beijing.

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One China policy is the diplomatic acknowledgement of Beijing's position that there is only one Chinese government with the People's Republic of China serving as the sole legitimate government of that China, and that Taiwan is a part of China.

On August 5, the Sri Lankan foreign ministry wrote a letter to the Chinese embassy in the country, informing that the vessel needs to defer the visit.

The letter said, "Ministry wishes to request that the arrival date of the vessel YUAN WANG 5 in Hambantota to be deferred until further consultations are made on this matter".

That same week also, the matter was discussed between Sri Lanka's foreign minister Ali Sabry and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi when they met in Cambodia on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings.

Last month, India publicly raised concerns about the visit of the vessel. During weekly Ministry of External Affairs briefings, spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in response to a question on it, said, "We are aware of reports of a proposed visit by this vessel at Hambantota port in August. Let me just say that government carefully monitors any development having a bearing on India's security and economic interests and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them."

Sri Lanka had given permission for the vessel to dock on July 12. Notably, permission was given a day before Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country after the people’s protest intensified.

The Sri Lankan air force in a statement on July 13 said, "Sri Lankan President, the first lady along with 2 bodyguards were subjected to full approval by Ministry of Defence for immigration, customs & other laws to fly to the Maldives. Air Force aircraft was provided to them in the early morning of July 13".

Amid the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, India has provided economic support worth over $2 billion to it. In January this year, India extended a US$ 400 million currency swap to Sri Lanka under the SAARC Framework and deferred successive Asian Clearing Union (ACU) settlements till July 6, 2022.

A Line of Credit (LoC) of US$ 500 million was extended to Sri Lanka for importing fuel from India. In addition, India has extended a credit facility of US$ 1 billion for the procurement of food, medicines, and other essential items from India. Humanitarian assistance was also provided to Sri Lanka by gifting essential medicines worth about Rs 6 crores, 15,000 litres of kerosene oil and US $ 55 million LoC for procurement of urea fertilizer.