INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Sri Lanka President said Xi Jinping's "gift" was to be used for any project of his choosing (Reuters)Colombo, Sri Lanka: Chinese
President Xi Jinping has offered Sri Lanka a fresh grant of 2 billion yuan ($295 million), as Beijing tries to expand its influence in the
tiny island country off India's southern tip.President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka, a partner in Beijing's multi-country Belt and Road
infrastructure push, made the announcement on Saturday at a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Chinese-funded kidney hospital
in his home constituency of Polonnaruwa, 230 km (142.92 miles) from capital Colombo."When the Chinese ambassador visited my house to fix the
date for this ceremony, he said that Chinese President Xi Jinping sent me another gift," Sirisena told the gathering."He has gifted 2
billion yuan to be utilized for any project of my wish
I'm going to hand over a proposal to the Chinese ambassador to build houses in all the electorates in the country," he added.Reuters could
not immediately contact officials from the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka for comment.The grant offer comes at a time when a Chinese firm is
facing heavy criticism for allegedly financing the last election campaign of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.Last month, the New York
Times reported that China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) gave $7.6 million for Rajapaksa's re-election bid, which he lost to
Sirisena in early 2015.Rajapaksa, the Chinese embassy in Colombo and state-owned CHEC have all denied the allegation, but Sirisena's
coalition government held a parliament debate on Thursday over the report and called for an investigation into the alleged funding.Sirisena
had at the start of his term suspended most of the Chinese-backed infrastructure projects started under Rajapaksa over suspected corruption,
overpricing and for flouting government procedures.But more than a year later, the Sirisena government allowed Chinese projects to resume
after a few changes in some of them.China was among the first countries that stepped in to help the reconstruction of Sri Lanka after a
26-year-long civil war ended in 2009.Many of Beijing's projects, backed by loans from the Chinese government and initiated by Rajapaksa
government, have faced opposition in Sri Lanka amid concerns raised by the United States, India and Japan that China might use Sri Lanka as
a military base.The 2014 docking of a Chinese navy submarine in Colombo raised an alarm in New Delhi, prompting Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to boost ties with Sri Lanka and claw back influence in the Indian Ocean region.Both the Sri Lankan government and Chinese embassy in
Colombo have denied any plans to use a southern port now handled by a Chinese firm for military purpose.© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for
the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
