After India hands over Dornier, Chinese ‘spy’ ship docks in Sri Lanka

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 16

Chinese ballistic missile and satellite-tracking ship ‘Yuan Wang 5’ arrived in the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota on Tuesday morning and will remain docked there till August 22.

China sanctions 7 Taiwanese ‘independence diehard’ officials

Beijing/Taipei: China on Tuesday imposed sanctions including an entry ban on seven Taiwanese officials and lawmakers it accused of being “independence diehards”, drawing condemnation from the democratically governed island. The sanctions come after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan this month, a trip that China said had sent a wrong signal to what it views as pro-independence forces. Reuters

The development comes a day after New Delhi handed over a Dornier 228 aircraft to Sri Lanka for surveillance of its exclusive economic zone. The plane was ceremonially welcomed and handed over to the Sri Lankan Air Force during a ceremony attended by President Ranil Wickremsinghe.

The ship was originally scheduled to arrive at the port on August 11 but the Sri Lankan authorities had asked Beijing to defer the ship’s visit, reportedly due to Indian sensitivities which was denied by the Ministry of External Affairs here.

China’s envoy in Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhon sought to play down the controversy surrounding the issue. Sri Lankan authorities had first permitted the ship to dock during the dying days of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency. They then denied it berthing after the regime changed but the same government has now allowed it to dock after the ship had idled in the waters near Sri Lanka for a couple of days.

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