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A Sri Lankan Member of Parliament has called for a campaign against China and accused the country of setting debt traps amid the ongoing financial crisis which led to political turmoil.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam raised questions over the Chinese Embassy’s involvement in matters raised in parliament
Rasamanickam has warned that he will lead a “ChinaGoHome” campaign if the Chinese Embassy and its government do not work for the benefit of his countrymen and fail to restructure debts, a report in ANI said.
“I would like to warn the Chinese, there will be a China Go Home soon, and I will lead it,” Ada Derana reportedly said.
Rasamanickam, while speaking in the parliament, stressed that China’s involvement poses a grave threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
He also said that he is ready for a Twitter war if the Chinese intend to start it. He said he had raised concerns regarding Chinese debts as he wants Sri Lanka’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to proceed.
“What does the Chinese Embassy have to do with matters that are discussed within this chamber? I have the privilege to speak in this house. What is the Chinese Embassy’s business to take my comments and speak about them on Twitter?,” local reports quoted Shanakiyan Rasamanickam as saying.
Rasamanickam said that he had spoken about China’s help with the debt restructuring process and raised questions that why China, an economy of USD 20 trillion, was not able to write off or delay the debt of Sri Lanka which is just USD 7.4 billion.
He accused Beijing of lending money to Sri Lanka despite being aware of the economic situation of the island nation.
He further claimed that China knew that Sri Lanka’s economy was collapsing ‘as a guise’ to include the island nation in China’s debt trap. He added that China should support the debt restructuring process if Beijing “truly wishes to stand with the people of Sri Lanka during difficult times.”
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, plunged into financial and political turmoil earlier this year as it faced a shortage of foreign currencies.
Due to this, the country has been unable to afford key imports, including fuel, fertilisers, and medicines, leading to serpentine queues.
The crisis led to shortages of essentials as the island was not able to fund imports due to foreign exchange shortages.
Street protests against the government for its mishandling of the economy led to the ouster of the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa mid-July.
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