Voicing its disappointment over Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen’s action of extending the state of emergency, the United States has called for ending the emergency and upholding the rule of law.
“The United States is disappointed by reports that Maldivian President Yameen has extended the state of emergency in that country for an additional 30 days,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement on Tuesday.
Nauert said the United States “continues to call on President Yameen to end the state of emergency, uphold the rule of law, permit the full and proper functioning of the Parliament and the judiciary, restore constitutionally guaranteed rights of the people of Maldives, and respect Maldives’ international human rights obligations and commitments”.
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, has drawn attention to the problem posed by China’s push to expand its power and influence in the region and the cosy relationship that President Yameen has with the Chinese leadership.
“India is naturally concerned that China could use the Maldives ports to expand its military presence in the Indian Ocean. Three Chinese navy ships visited last year,” the paper said in an editorial comment, noting that India’s economic ties with the Maldives were also being impacted adversely.
“In 2012 the Yameen administration terminated a contract with an Indian company to renovate the country’s airport in favour of a Chinese company. last year the Government pushed a trade agreement with China through parliament without debate, eliminating tariffs on 95 per cent of Chinese goods over eight years,” it said.
Although a political crisis in the small Indian Ocean island might seem inconsequential, the paper said the issue deserves wider attention, given the country’s strategic location and China’s growing influence, President Yameen’s moves to dominate the judiciary and stifle the opposition.
“(Chinese President) Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative puts the expansion of Chinese power and influence above all else, and the Maldives is an example of the collateral damage,” the WSJ commented, adding: “US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called China’s practices “predatory economics”, and too often that’s right.”