Oh China, Please Come Back Ye…

Analysis by Dr Palitha Kohona*

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (IDN) – As Sri Lanka, with an administration now in power for over one year, begins to confront complex domestic and international challenges, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe undertook a visit to Beijing.

Unthinkable just a few months ago with orchestrated anti China rhetoric flooding the media, he joined other world leaders who had already lined up outside the gates of Beijing seeking manna from the Middle Kingdom. At the conclusion of the visit on April 10, he spoke effusively of the potential for cooperation between the two countries.

So what caused the change? The visit was billed as an initiative to reassure the Chinese that Sri Lanka remained a reliable global partner, it is a welcoming destination for Chinese investors and tourists, and it will honour its contractual obligations to Chinese concerns made by the previous administration and it may have achieved at least some of its goals.

U.S. and China: A Tale of Contradictions

By Jennifer Sun*

“America’s once shining beacon has somehow dimmed a bit, and the Red China I left 30 years ago is not as bloody red as it used to be. The two countries, capitalist and communist, actually have a lot in common: the rich and powerful could be greedy, hypocritical and morally corrupt,” writes Jennifer Sun, author of the recently published novel ‘Two Tales of the Moon’.

Djibouti Reportedly Wants U.S. to Make Room for China’s Military Base

NEW YORK – China has received a green light from Djibouti to build its first overseas military base in that Horn of Africa nation. The question is: will they get a welcome basket from neighbors France, Japan and the U.S.? All three have military bases there as well.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said the new facility will give logistical support to China’s fleet that performs escort duties in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.

Beijing Stresses One-China Principle As Taiwan Elects First Female President

HONKONG (INPS | Pressenza) – Taiwan News reporting on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s landslide win says the good lady promises reforms, general cooperation and an aim to establish stability after she was elected Taiwan’s first woman president on January 16.

Tsia got the highest percentage of the vote any candidate has ever had since such direct presidential elections were first held in 1966.

Also, at the same time, she can also look forward to the first-ever absolute majority the DPP has ever held in the 113-seat Legislative Yuan – parliament. At this juncture it seems the DPP could hold a total of 68 seats.

Mapping India-China Cultural Links Crucial For Asia’s Emergence

NEW DELHI (IDN) – When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived on May 14 in the historic city of Xian, at the start of his three-day visit to China, he was almost immediately taken by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Wild Goose Pagoda that symbolise the two countries’ umbilical cultural ties, thus setting the tone for the important visit. Xian is where the ancient Silk Route began.

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