Chinese diplomat criticizes the Maldivian government for praising India

Chinese ambassador censured the Maldivian speaker Nasheed for calling Indian projects ‘transparent’ and Beijing’s as ‘debt-traps’ poorly treating the island nations of the IOR 

New Delhi: The Chinese ambassador to the Maldives has triggered a heated debate on Twitter after he criticized former Parliament President Mohammed Nasheed for his pro-India comments.

Ambassador Zhang Lizhong denounced Speaker Nasheed’s comments made while he was speaking at a convention in Gujarat on 28 February. 

Speaker Nasheed in his inaugural address at the sixth edition of the India Ideas Conclave 2020 commended the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for their assistance to the Maldives.

Nasheed said that despite the Maldives being a small island country, India as a superpower of the world has always respected the independence and sovereignty of the archipelago. He highlighted that New Delhi has never been a threat to the Male.

“Many superpowers have risen; Empires rise and fall and now we see India on the rise. As India rises and attains the status of superpower… We do not see how India’s actions have ever been a threat to the Maldives or any of its neighbors. India has always respected our sovereignty and always treated us as equals, however small we are,” Nasheed said. 

Underlining the projects carried out in the Maldives with the assistance of New Delhi, he said that Indian projects tendered by the Government of India are transparent.

“Maldives now has a democratic government and now with Indian assistance. It is all very different. Indian projects in the Maldives are transparent and everyone knows what is going on. Everybody knows the price of it. It is very rare, has almost never happened that any of these have become a debt trap. I like India rising,” he said. 

While heavily praising India, Nasheed soon trained his guns on China and implied that the South-eastern Asian nation treats fellow neighbors in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) very poorly in comparison to India. He expressed grave concerns about the unprecedented and aggressive rise of Beijing.

Attacking Beijing’s debt-trap diplomacy, Nasheed said, “We have another superpower coming to the Indian Ocean (IOR), China. Unfortunately, the manner in which this superpower is treating the Indian Ocean islands is very, very different.”

A day after Nasheed’s statement, the Chinese Ambassador Lizhong took to Twitter in responding to the diplomatic jabs. In a tweet from his official twitter account, ambassador Lizhong said that leaders should be able to fulfil their jobs in commending their partners without comparing another partner. 

Adding further, he claimed China develops ties with countries in the Indian ocean on five principles of peaceful coexistence and stated that they will continue to make contributions.

Currently, the Maldives debt to China totals about $1.5 billion for several infrastructure-related projects such as the construction of the Sinamale’ Bridge connecting capital Male and reclaimed suburbs Hulhumale with the country’s main airport, and large-scale housing projects.

A change in government in November 2019, had thrown the Beijing-Male relations under intense scrutiny dogged by allegations of inflated investment contracts to an array of Chinese companies. 

Although relations between the Maldives and long-time ally India were strained during the tenure of former President Abdulla Yameen due to its friendship with the dragon, the government of President Solih has been deepening relations with Prime Minister Modi-led New Delhi.