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COLOMBO: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called China’s communist government a “predator” on Wednesday (October 28), during a trip to boost ties with Sri Lanka, which has received significant investment and support. Beijing diplomat.
Pompeo made his latest attack on China after speaking with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa about security cooperation to keep vital Indian Ocean sea lanes open just south of Sri Lanka.
“A strong sovereign Sri Lanka is a powerful strategic partner for the United States on the world stage,” Pompeo told reporters at the conclusion of a 12-hour visit, the second stop on a four-country tour.
Pompeo described how Washington has provided military training and recently gifted two Coast Guard ships, comparing their assistance to China.
LEE: Pompeo says the United States and India should focus on the threat posed by China
“The Communist Party of China is a predator,” he declared.
The Chinese embassy in Colombo responded and tweeted a promotional image for the Aliens vs Predator video game.
“Sorry Mr. Secretary Pompeo, we are busy promoting China-Sri Lanka friendship and cooperation, we are not interested in your invitation to the Alien v Predator game,” he said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena did not refer to China, but in a press conference with Pompeo, he told reporters that the country maintains a non-aligned foreign policy.
Sri Lanka borrowed billions of dollars from China for infrastructure when Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda was the country’s leader from 2005 to 2015.
Unable to service a $ 1.4 billion loan to build an offshore port, the country was forced to lease the port to a Chinese company for 99 years in 2017.
READ: China tells us not to intimidate Sri Lanka ahead of Pompeo’s visit
On Tuesday, the Chinese embassy accused Pompeo of trying to “coerce and intimidate” Sri Lanka with his visit.
Earlier this month, Yang Jiechi, a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party’s politburo, promised more economic aid to Sri Lanka when he was in Colombo.
Anti-China comments have been a key theme of Pompeo’s Asian tour this week, which began in India and will now take him to the Maldives and Indonesia.
In the past, China helped Sri Lanka combat allegations of human rights violations, particularly in the final months of a decades-long civil war, when the current president was the country’s top defense official.
Washington has insisted on credible investigations into allegations that Sri Lankan troops killed at least 40,000 civilians while crushing Tamil Tamil separatist rebels in 2009.
Pompeo concluded his visit to Sri Lanka by laying flowers and praying at a Roman Catholic church where 56 people were killed in suicide attacks on Easter Sunday last year.
Five Americans were among 279 people killed in coordinated attacks on three churches and three hotels in and around Colombo.
