By DHARISHA BASTIANS and GARDINER HARRIS
SEPT. 16, 2014
President Xi Jinping of China, right, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka in Colombo on Tuesday.CreditEranga Jayawardena/Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — President Xi Jinping of China arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday for a 23-hour trip to this island nation to sign a raft of agreements as China chips away at India’s traditional dominance in the region.
Mr. Xi’s plane traveled from nearby Malé, the capital of the Maldives, where he signed an agreement to upgrade the airport and build a bridge, a housing project and a road. The airport project had been given to an Indian construction giant, GMR. But the Maldives abruptly canceled that contract in 2012 and instead gave it to China.
In Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, on Tuesday, Mr. Xi inaugurated the final phase of a coal-fired power plant financed by Beijing and built by China Machinery Engineering Corporation. And he and the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, agreed to cooperate on the Colombo Port City project, a $1.3 billion plan to build an artificial island off Colombo.
On Wednesday, Mr. Xi is expected to visit the Colombo South Container Terminal, in which the Chinese government has a controlling stake through the state-run China Merchant Holdings.
Mr. Xi was given a grand welcome at Colombo’s airport, with decorated elephants and traditional dancers on hand to greet him. Mr. Xi then traveled to the capital along a Chinese-built expressway.
In a letter published on Tuesday in a Sri Lankan government newspaper, Mr. Xi wrote that China “resolutely opposes any move by any country to interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs under any excuse.” The statement was an obvious reference to growing pressure on Sri Lanka from the United States and other Western countries to investigate the killing of civilians during its civil war.
In his remarks, Mr. Rajapaksa said that China’s investments in Sri Lanka had provided every resident with cheap electricity. Mr. Rajapaksa, who is campaigning for his party’s candidates in provincial elections, announced that electric bills would immediately be cut by 25 percent.
China’s efforts to secure naval and maritime access throughout South Asia — a strategy called the “string of pearls” — has unnerved India. But with India distracted by its own problems, China’s outreach has been welcomed by both the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Mr. Rajapaksa has visited China seven times during his nine years in office. Last year, China surpassed the United States as Sri Lanka’s second-largest trading partner behind India. China also recently replaced India as the largest investor in Sri Lanka.
On Wednesday, Mr. Xi is scheduled to fly to Gujarat, where he will hold meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who will be celebrating his 64th birthday. But the Chinese visits to Sri Lanka and the Maldives could complicate what had already been a delicate balancing act by the Indian and Chinese leaders, whose countries are regional rivals but also benefit from growing trade ties.
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