Colombo: 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 at a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Chinese-funded kidney hospital in his constituency of Polonnaruwa.
“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 said. “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.
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. Sirisena had at the start of his term suspended most of the Chinese-backed infrastructure projects over suspected graft, overpricing and for flouting government procedures.
But over a year later, the Sirisena government allowed Chinese projects to resume after a few changes in some of them. Many of Beijing’s projects have faced opposition in Sri Lanka amid concerns raised by the US, India and Japan that China might use Sri Lanka as a military base.
