The Colombo Port City Bill was passed in Parliament on the of May 20, 2021 with all the amendments as required by the Supreme Court and therefore the first hurdle has been cleared for it to go ahead.
The Colombo Port City (CPC) is the second gambit of China’s BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) to expand its economic horizons into Asia, Middle East, Africa and East-Europe and so far so good.
The BRI is the brainchild of China’s President Xi Jinping a rising star of exceptional calibre, not seen before in the Asia Pacific Region.
The BRI concept of President Xi was initially spoken by him in the Caspian region in 2013 and subsequently in Indonesia and then in early 2014 when our Foreign Minister went to China to obtain its support for the UNCHR Resolution that was coming up in Geneva in late March 2014.
President Xi requested our support for China’s BRI and this was conveyed to our President at that time Mahinda Rajapaksa who took it up with both hands having put much required economic and social infrastructure in place after the end of the long debacle with the LTTE in May 2009.
Hoodoo
The South China Sea (SCS) has been a hoodoo to all the major economic powerhouses like Japan and South Korea and without any doubt also to mainland China.
The SCS is a very busy maritime highway in the Asia Pacific Region with criss-crossing lanes serving the logistic needs of so many countries and even after the rise of China to the status of a manufacturing power house of the world, the United Nations Commission for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOSE) did not address the concerns of China even with a “Code of Conduct” to be followed which could have cushioned the assertiveness of China to a lesser degree as perceived today by the West.
Looking at the big picture of the Asian century that is looking more clearer of post Covid-19, is that China is emerging as the superpower of the Asia Pacific region having pitched its first gambit in the Hambantota Port of Sri Lanka and its second chessboard move, the Port City in Colombo.
As President of China Xi Jinping sees the new world order with its BRI, both Hong Kong and Singapore would not be playing a major role in it.
Hong Kong is logistically not in Xi’s New Maritime Silk Route(NMSR), and Singapore was its most irritant chokepoint controlled by the US Pacific Command / UK South East Asia Command dominating the Straits of Malacca and Singapore which is singularly pro-West has even accommodates a US Military Base that moved there from the Subic Bay of the Philippines.
Xi Jinping envisages that that the CPC will replace HK as its financial centre and also become a commercial centre for South Asia what Singapore now is for South East Asia.
Singapore is quiet now after trying its utmost to make Colombo a ‘Majestic City’ during the heydays of the “Yahapalanaya Regime” between 1915-20.
The new string of financial pearls appear to be Shanghai-Colombo-London-New York and with China ruling the waves like what Britain did after the capture of Ceylon in the early 20th century.
With an uncertain world of today with climate change dominating world affairs no ‘crystal ball’ could see beyond 2060 and that goes even in China for its zero emissions target.
The big task now is to get the Commission in place to implement the CPC Bill and therefore its foundation has to be solid with no bad eggs in the basket.
Singapore
The success of Singapore as a commercial hub was due the efforts of the poor Londoner Stamford Raffles who secured the island Singapore in 1819 for his employer the East India Company.
In 2013 I attended the Commonwealth Business Forum as an Australian delegate and participated in the last meeting of the three-day program which was titled “Strengthening National Economies through Global Business and Trade” and Chaired by Razik Zarook, Chairman of the BOC with three other panellists, one of which was the Trade Envoy of the British PM and I had the privilege of meeting him, and today he is the driving force of the Business Avatar, the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) an ideal fit for the Colombo Port City.
All the best Sri Lankan enterprises such as the JV of SL Airways with Emirates, Telecom/Mobitel and the P & O Gateway Container Terminal were all from Australia and who was the back-room operator is unknown to date?
Our generation that was born between 1930-46 is supposed to be a rare one and the Sri Lanka PM Mahinda Rajapakse born in 1945 could also be a rare PM of Sri Lanka who has completed 50 years in politics and could be considered an astute leader of the South Asian Region and to team up with President Xi of China is no coincidence like they did during the opening ceremony of the Chinese Olympics on the 8th of August 2008 with former President Mahinda Rajapakse and President Xi of China on the Dais together.
Century
Summing it up may I remind all and sundry that China and Sri Lanka share the “Relics of the Orient” the ‘Alms Bowl’ of the Buddha which was gifted to China by us when they were ruled by a Mongolian King in the 13th Century and today in the 21st Century the Colombo Port City could be considered a serendipitous moment for both China and Sri Lanka a shared destiny till the Port City lease expires.
May the Triple Gem bless our moribund Motherland Lanka.
– Writer, lateral thinker and critic