China on Monday said Sri Lanka has allowed its satellite and missile tracking ship to berth at the Hambantota port on Tuesday, but declined to reveal details of talks with Colombo leading to the bankrupt island's government reversing its earlier stand to defer the high-tech vessel's entry.
“As you said, Sri Lanka has given Yuan Wang-5 the permission to berth at its port," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here, responding to a question about Colombo giving its nod for the ship to berth at Hambantota Port days after asking it to defer the visit following reported concerns expressed by India and the US. Wang, however, declined to go into details of Beijing's talks with Colombo in relation to the berthing of the ship.
“As for the specific questions that you raised, we have mentioned China's position quite a few times," Wang said when asked about what were the “consultations” that were held and the “concerns” addressed.
After Sri Lanka asked it to defer the entry of the ship, China on August 8 reacting angrily said it was "completely unjustified" for certain countries to cite the so-called “security concerns” to pressure Colombo and "grossly interfere" in its internal affairs.
Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry statement on August 13 said that Colombo held extensive consultations about “certain concerns”. The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry in its statement explained that it had on August 5 requested the Chinese embassy that the visit of the Chinese ship scheduled between August 11 and 17 to Hambantota port be deferred "in light of certain concerns raised with the ministry" until the conduct of further "consultations on the matter." “The government has since engaged in extensive consultations at a high level through diplomatic channels with all parties concerned, with a view to resolving the matter in a spirit of friendship, mutual trust, and constructive dialogue, taking into account the interests of all parties concerned, and in line with the principle of sovereign equality of states," the statement said.
The Chinese embassy on August 12 applied for clearance of the new dates — from August 16 to 22 — "for replenishment purposes of the vessel".
"Having considered all material in place", the clearance to the Chinese embassy "was conveyed for the deferred arrival of the vessel between August 16 and 22", the Sri Lankan statement said.
The ship with some 2,000 sailors on board with facilities to track satellites and intercontinental missiles will berth at the Hambantota Port which China has taken for a 99-year lease as a debt swap.