Chinese Economic Hitmen And The Rajapaksas
By Frederica Jansz
In an unprecedented move China has given President Mahinda Rajapaksa 9 million USD (over one billion rupees) as a grant in March this year to use at his discretion. According to highly placed sources at the External Resources Department of the Treasury these monies were part of a grant amounting to a total USD 12 million for “enhancing friendly relations and bilateral economic and technical cooperation.” Of which USD 2.0 million was set aside for the flood affected and USD 1.0 million for the Bandaranaiyake Centre for International Studies.
China made another similar payment in June last year amounting to USD 500,000 to Namal Rajapaksa to promote IT technology among the youth in Sri Lanka.
This is the first time in the history of the country that a foreign government has given grants to the country’s leader and his son money to be used ”at their discretion.”
Repeated attempts to contact Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge to get a reaction failed while Namal Rajapaksa also failed to answer repeated phone calls.
We spoke to Bandula Jayasekera Director General of the President’s Media Unit and followed it up with an email giving a fifteen hour deadline to respond before going to print. One hour before the deadline Jayasekera called to say Lalith Weeratunge needed one week to respond to our questions. We will publish his response next week.
According to the External Resources Department by 2009, 54% of a total USD 2.2 billion that Sri Lanka received in the form of loans and credit came from China. In 2010, disbursement from China amounted to about 40%, its nearest rival were the Asian Development Bank and Japan at 15% each. In the same year, loan/credit commitments from China were even higher. Since November 2010, the Chinese loans (being discussed/finalized have increased by nearly USD 3.4 billion.
China’s investments have been mostly in the form of loans at an interest rate which is far higher than from other countries and multilateral agencies.
Chinese loans can be broadly divided into three categories. Buyers Credit, preferential buyers credit and Concessional loan. Soft loans and grants from China are minimal.
Buyers credit is usually at 6.5% to 7% interest rate, Preferential buyers credit is at about 5.0 percent. Concessional loan is at 2-3 percent. The cost of insurance premium and processing cost adds up to an additional 1.5 – 2.0 percent. China also stipulates that its companies should be selected as the project contractor and for procurement projects, equipment supply shall in principle come from a Chinese exporter. In project procurement, priority shall be given to equipment, materials, technology or services from China. Even the labour has to be supplied from China. Overall, this helps China in further multiplying its profits.
In comparison, multilateral donor agencies such as the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank provide soft loans at a very low interest rate ranging from 0.25%, 2% or 3%. But these agencies stipulate strict conditions.
hina is a true friend of Sri lanka unlike so called NATO countries who could bomb Colombo at any time.
sorry China…
China is a true friend of Sri lanka unlike so called NATO countries who could bomb Colombo at any time.
sri lanka is ranked 57 out of 60 countries in GLOBAL TALENT INDEX.
all those guys from down south, know where we r before start talking
Good article with facts. Nothing will be accepted by the president’s office of course. But ppl in this country should realize where we are heading regardless their political affiliation. The very fact of being a poor country for many years after getting independence is an ample proof how politicians conned the common man. Unfortunately, there’s no alternative too..
Whole country is becoming the private property of the Rajapaksa and co. Multi – billions of public money is simply nothing for the clan. Here are a few
- 1400 million spent on UN joy ride
- IIFAcosts 1.1 billion just to promote the first born
- Precious colombo land sold with out proper procedures/ transparency
-Charlton sports of presidential company gets all finances,personel and navy support as if they are private property of the clan
-18 billion hedging deal loss initially brought by presidential relative Asantha De Mel
-Multibillions spent for presidential fleet of cars
-Rs 5000 million spent for presidentila inaguration
-Mihin air past losses Rs 16.4 billion
- Rs 500 billion is to be spent for commonwealth games for the main purpose of promoting the first born
This is the legacy of the Sri Rajapakasa Lanthaya !!!!
If not for China, Sri Lanka would still be under the jackboots of the LTTE and would have been another “Mumbai”. We have to be grateful to China for helping us to finish off the terrorists. The USA,UK etc., backed the tigers. So Dear Editor, don’t be pessimistic about China. More than the interest rates you refer to there is peace in Sri Lanka and people get on with their lives.
P.A.Samaraweera, Australia.
Why inquire from the President or his Office, ??
Why can not Janz go to the source and findout for herself from the horses mouth?
What she can do from the President Office is where & how & for what these monies were sepent??
This journalist makes things look sensetional prior to speaking to the source.
Wonder how many times she has accepted invitation to the Chinese embassy for functions ??
Some one in the Finance Ministry haS leaked the information. Please look into it.
It would be of interest to know the GOSL dues on Interest annually at
date and a comparison with pre-MR Regime. These worked out in relation
to valuations then and now.
This is really a criminal case.MR and his son are enjoying while 60% of the population is struggling to achieve their day to day means.
THAT MEAN THEY GOT PAGA FROM CHINA?
None of these monies go into any individuals kitties, its all to be utilized with the development of Sri Lanka which we are glad to see it happenning after thirty years of misery .China is one among the countries that has come to our assistance and we all are grateful to them.
Lets not tarnish the good name of the GOSL by pin pointing individuals who put country before self.
are blinkered or what. all politicians are corrupt and that is not fantasy. not just sri lanka but allover the globe including the west. see what the british mps have done.
Enjoy your few years Sri lankan nationalists then run to ever corner of the world when the Chinese eat up all your Economic resources. You will have plenty of jobs cleaning
Samuel
You mean like the Thamil’s working in western kitchens ?
Sometimes will have to work like the Tamils in Western Kitchens and it may even go to the levell of begging with a bowl like Gowthama Buddha the one time prince did.
Yea Baby,Thamils working in western IT kitchens….
Ex: Chanel 4
can some one enlighten the public when Sri lanka has to pay back these loans to China and the rest of the loans owed to Asian Development Bank IMF India and the west or are we heading for a bankcrupt nation?
Nathen
Since you appear to be so very upset, Can you provide information about the interest rates, other allocations for the monies (you have already found where 3Mn is going)..
It should be child’s play to dig up all this information
You have neglect to mention that the WB, ADB and IMF etc. loans come with heavy conditions, regardless of their interest rates – these conditions are usually strangulating ones – especially for the third world
I await with bated breath !!
There is no such thing as a free lunch. The local taxpayers will pay for all these goodie loans and grants. That is certain.
Ones again , Yes our country is sold to china . We can rename it to
Rajapaksa Lanka China Limited
And start to think how we going to be able to repay the loans for all the useless projects we taking loans for… Sell our doughters to the chinese?
Hambantota harbour – Not even somalians pirates wants to enter the harbour.
In witch way we are procceding, is there any future for next generations. Country is trapped and tapped by Chinese.
But neither Johan Fernando or Biyanca (and presumably Jansz)have problems with Lanka being sold to, or held hostage by the WB, IMF or ADB !! Perhaps because they are white and not yellow
That’s the weird part !
Better than being trapped by those Western nations.
Like father like son. Make hay while the sun shines and pawn the country and its people for your benefit.
Is this in helping Hambantota account,??. We are sure to benefit from that
this type of money is called bribes like the hambantoto fund too.
the rajapak’s should hand over this money to the central bank of sl.
we can now see the prime land been given for development to china in the name of development are all fraud deals for the rajapak’s….
since they are now blood relations to lord buddha does it mean lord buddha was too ……
Never disgrace the Lord Buddha for others’ sins.
You mean to hand over all the moneys to the CB?
He will have no problem.
building cricket stadium in hambanthota, building commen wealth city in hambantota, then build roads,bridge n so on. its nice to see new bridges, better roads n amazing cricket n common wealth facility. but will this increase the income of the country? NO. so how r we gonna repay all this?
Criticism is good!!! I appreciate frederica’s reveal. Hope you would give the same publicity for the answer we are gonna have from Lalith Weeratunga. And, all the commentators who see a foul play here must do some home work and research and write their comments again. Should anyone misuse the privilege of putting comments here at their discretion to tarnish images of individuals? We have been reading this kind of accusations since 2005 or so, nothing has been proved.
vajja
If the answers are not to our liking (in other words, our accusations and assertions and assumptions have been false and fake) , we have NO INTENTION of publishing them.
Do you take us for idiots ? We are “Publish and Be Damned” , remember ?
on behalf of the Sunday Leader
China is a Sri Lanka friend for thousand years.Europeans always create troubles on other nations. Europeans are cunning,racist cold blood creatures by nature.Any stupid trust Europeans end up in misery one day.It can be proved by example of the history.Without them Sri Lanka would be much better place by now.Sri Lankans are proud to have leader who understand this.It is much better place if Indian understand this and have closer ties with it’s neighbors china,Pakistan and Sri Lanka than this foreign devils(USA , Europe)
What do you think China acting out of LOVE. Better call your self short thinking Dave.Better get your mind updated with the current situvations in the world. Open your eyes and mind to the world.Or wait till chinese come and take you off from your property,with a swift kick to your sorry rear-end
If China is willing to give grants to MR and MR junior, they should also extend their generosity to cabinet ministers. Otherwise, the cabinet ministers will resort to various nefarious means to enrich themselves like adulterating petrol with water or gamble with public funds like hedging.
The Presidential Secretary and the Crown Prince have avoided answering why the latter and the Maharajah have been granted ‘special funds’ to be ‘used at their discretion’.
This is surely, Hush Money to prop up the personal fortunes of the Royal Family.
So what else is new, this was the exact situation when US and UK were providing us with aid. Apart from that they carried crippling conditions. These countries were acting like they owned Srilanka. that is why this government had to shift east. Yes chinese are smart business men and they are looking to dominate the region. countries like srilanka has no other choice but to lean towards west or china.
China is fast becoming the next super power in the world – and will be the most powerful nation in the world in no time while the Western nations are gradually going bankrupt and their own people are losing jobs, their houses, healthcare, education, etc. etc. – and will end up as the beggars of the world soon. Its better to bet your chips on the winning horse!
feeling a little isolated and left out these days? Sri Lanka IS getting help and support. You can fool some people sometimes, but you cant fool all the people all the time. You can write about your hallucinations given rise to by hate and greed, but eventually their returns will come back to haunt those like you. Cant wait to see that………………..
Sri Lanka`s”Gaddafi & son ” in the making ………with chinees money.!
Sri Lankan President and Son playing the dangerous game with China. The Chinese Government will take 1000% for the money given to those Leaders.Rajapaksha will leave Sri Lanka Hi and Dry in near future. Now All Sri Lankans are like crab’s in a pot on stove, swimm ing in water till get hot. Rest is History.
ah but does he or any of his family and the whatevers have any place abroad to run to. that is the question
Well no country helps another for free… There is always a hidden agenda. China is building its might and military strategies to be the next super power. South Asia (Indian Ocean) is a vital part of it. So CHINA needs to keep Sri lanka in their basket.
This is a win win situation for Sri Lanka too. Also Sri Lanka is pushed to be with CHINA not by Chinese but only by Western Hypocrsy. As long as western countries are biased and get bogged down with local tamil votes for their back bench MP’s, Sri lanka has to their part for survival.
CHINA is the right tool for Sri Lanka to show the finger to Western world.
How long you want to show the finger to western countries ? Please do remember that Libyan leader had the same strategy in the past. Look what has happened to him now ? So take care of your finger, if not world will show the same finger to us in future.
At least China is giving Sri Lanka aid. Does it mean that if aid is not from usa, uk, and other nations allied to the so-called ‘west’ including japan, then sri lanka must decline that aid? roads are being built and other things too all of which is good to have in place. once infra structire is in place business will automatically follow. Regards the m,oney: this money surely is not for mahinda personally. It is from China to Sri Lanka to be used as needed and required by the democratically elected President of Sri Lanka who is also the Minister of Finance. Whats wrong with any of this??? Only the Editor of the Leader may know the answer. why not publish some documents to prove your story
Sri lanka’s ‘love’ with China is a crafty diplomatic one,
benefiting both countries for now.China is shrewd so is SL.China friendship grew big mainly to make India feel jealous & scary. So India gave everything it can to SL,in order to keep it away from China but SL is playing a double game & getting all benefits from both countries. India only helped more than any other country, to win the so called ‘ humanitarian
rescue’ war, but still SL gives special treatment to China than it gives India. The mistrust & the ever lasting ancient rivalry is there between the two nations.
Even today India is helping SL in defending
international pressures re allegations of war crimes.
China,India & west, they all have their own agendas
and no one helps any one for nothing. China is famous for stealing technology,manufacturing fake
cheap goods & flooding the world markets.They have a very poor human rights,humanitarian record.
They are almost anti religious,subjugating the religious, poor Tibetans,trashing buddhism & Dalai Lama. They are morally corrupt,vandalizing African countries of their mineral wealth,supporting Junta rulers & robbing Burma of it’s natural wealth of forestry. Chinese do not enjoy any freedom either.
China even gave large sum as loan to USA. But the loans given to SL is at a high rate of interest, unlike
loans from WB,IMF etc., So they attach conditions.
They want the loans to be spent wisely so that SL will generate income & pay the loans back without
much difficulty. They are not asking for a chunk of Galle face green or an island in Kalpitiya.
Sri lanka is going to learn another bitter lesson,
this time from China. Our so called ruling clan is not interested in the welfare of our nation, but their own only, but we shall reap the burden of paying back the chinese debt & the high interest attached to it or
sell some more prime property to china at a very low
price.
Sri lanka was under British colony but no development achieved untill now. Now it is the time for China to take over sri lanka at least for some decades. lankan politicians and anti-srilanka media personals should retire from their traitory deeds, otherwise srilanka will be the same in the 25th century. Dont keep hopes on india. India is the main enemy who doesnt want sri lanka’s development. Time for China….
“The World needs a backlash against overindulgent, superficial, self-satisfying media personalities who pass themselves off as ‘journalists’ and claim they deliver ‘what the viewers/readers want.’”
De Tocqueville Betrayed – Justice Media
dave siri
The Sunday Leader, unbowed and unafraid as it may claim to me, simply deals in innuendo, supposition and headline-grabbing speculation – not facts
Remember, their motto is “Publish and Be Damned”.
Sunday Leader’s clear incitement to fear and hatred against the Chinese and China is reminiscent of the Western extreme right-wing freakozoids whipping up anger against various identifiable groups such as Moslems, Jews and others (Vietnames, Sudanese etc etc)
Even Thamils have not been immune to this incitement-to-hatred by individuals and the freakazoid Western press. Witness the responses to the highway-blocking by Thamils, the arrivals of boatloads at various ports..
Way to Go Sunday Leader !! Lead by Example..
7.5% interest on the loans whereas the overnight lending rate at Federal Reserve is less than 1% . So they have to come up with the santhosam its natural
Sri lanka is nowadays famous for modern slavery,no one like to know the truth and where we are now,60% of lankans are those who worship Thugs and thieves,better find another country to live or fight back!
He is training his son’s to be the same. This is the man who was caught with funds from Tsunami aid (given to SL) in his own private account! He was rewarded by being made the President! HE and his family are a disgrace! They will suffer their own karmaya’s. However we must stop them from dragging the rest of down with them. Throw them out NOW!
What is the Author trying to get at ? Countries such as Sri Lanka needs development assistance. Does the author expect money to fall from the skies ? There is a cost associated with any form of loan, grant, etc etc.
Ok…Ok…. guys…………….
Worst come to the worst, we negotiate the Hambantota harbour for all the monies burrowed.
Then call ….QUITS.
Of course you are correct dave siri the fact that china is giving money to an elected head of state in a country where there are so much unexpected liabilities to redeem such as hedging fiasco, overdraft on cricket funds, extremely over-spent ground building costs and highly expensive infrastructure programmes…………..China must be celebrating the way things are handling here
Well….it looks like, under the current context, MR and the clan are loosing all of the options opened for them to run and hide, one day in the future.
Western and US is completely out off discussion. Libya is on fire, NK is forbidden. China was the best but looks like is been faded away….