PRC builds port in Sri Lanka
Spotted this - new item to me - in The Times: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6207487.ece
Which reports China is building a commercial port in Sri Lanka, which could become a base for their expanding navy (similar to Gwador, the Pakistani port).
I'd missed this development, although the article indicates others have not.
Strange that the natural harbour, Trincomalee, ex-RN base was not used.
Incidntally the Sri Lankan conflict rarely appears on SWJ.
davidbfpo
This pearl is a white elephant
Hat tip to WoTR for this update on the "pearl" @ Hambantota, Sri Lanka:
Quote:
In short, India is spending $300 million buying an airport to block a Chinese naval base.
Link:https://warontherocks.com/2017/12/em...china-rivalry/
China woos Pakistan militants to secure Belt and Road projects
From the FT:
Quote:
China has been quietly holding talks with Pakistani tribal separatists for more than five years in an effort to protect the $60bn worth of infrastructure projects it is financing as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Link:https://www.ft.com/content/063ce350-...6-b9ccc4c4dbbb
One wonders will the locals, let alone the militants, be tempted by work or other options and so enable the road and port to operate? It's almost how it was before.:)
Facts -v- Fiction: the CPEC
A curious document, from September 2017 from a previously unheard of think tank (German-Pakistani) on the Chine-Pakistan Economic Corridor and somehow I doubt any pearls will be found.
Link to 50 pgs.:http://www.cpecinfo.com/news/the-rea...ction/NDg0Mw==
A Tweet pointed at the report as the facts on public opinion were striking.
How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port
A long NYT article on how China ended up with an empty port.
Link:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/w...anka-port.html