Aljazeera, Oct. 27, 2020
China has raised objections to what it called bullying of Sri Lanka by the United States after Washington said the Indian Ocean island must make “difficult but necessary choices” regarding its ties with Beijing.
The comments by the Chinese embassy in Colombo came shortly before the arrival on Tuesday of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on an Asian tour aimed at pushing back against China’s growing influence in the region.
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“We are firmly opposed to the United States taking the opportunity of the State Secretary’s visit to sow and interfere in China-Sri Lanka relations, and to coerce and bully Sri Lanka,” the embassy said in a statement late on Monday.
China has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka as part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at linking Asia, Europe and beyond, to the alarm of India and the US.
The embassy said China’s ties with Sri Lanka stretched back 2,000 years and the two countries did not need a third party to dictate terms.
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