American Jealousy Or The Chinese Embrace?

By Gamini Weerakoon

(March 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The collective howl from Sri Lanka at Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the UN has not brought Moon down to Earth. Nor has the pillorying of Pillay had any effect.The issue is not that Moon, Navathian Pillay, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights and the rest of the UN gang doesn’t deserve the Sri Lankan ‘compliments’ or not. But it is clear that Lanka’s heated response to Ban Ki-Moon’s proposal to appoint a special panel to investigate alleged war crimes during the final phase of the war against the LTTE has not had any impact at all. On Wednesday, Moon said that he as Secretary General of the UN was well within his powers in calling for a panel to furnish him with advice, the report of which will be submitted to him directly. The letter sent by the group of Non Aligned nations in the UN too has bounced off Moon.

Where is Dayan Jayatilleke ?

Sri Lanka does appear to be heading into a log-jam in the UN as it found itself in soon after the military defeat of the LTTE. On the last occasion Sri Lanka was able to overcome powerful Western interests that wanted to move a resolution in the UN on alleged war crimes committed by our armed forces. Now it appears that a similar move is being made. On the last occasion it was claimed that Sri Lanka was able to rally the support of the Non Aligned Nations and defeat moving of a resolution on alleged war crimes because of the contribution of our mercurial envoy to Geneva at that time, Dayan Jayatilleke.

Such praise was heaped on him particularly by government politicians, journalists in the pro-government media and even some diplomats and ex-diplomats while a few demurred. Jayatilleke it appears has been struck down by the ‘Karapincha Syndrome’ which afflicts most bright sparks of the Rajapaksa government.
Karapincha for the uninitiated in Sri Lankan cuisine, is a curry leaf that is thrown to the sink after its flavour has been imparted to the curry. There are many such curry leaves in the sink today, the other notable leaf being General Sarath Fonseka, one time declared to be ‘Lanka’s best military commander’ and even the ‘World’s best military commander’ now arraigned before two courts martial.

There are many other curry leaves in the Rajapaksa sink such as Mangala Samaraweera, the JVP and some UNP renegades (who seem destined for the inevitable according to some analysts). The mercurial Jayatilleke however at times shines out of the deepest of political blackholes and has the greatest potential to bounce back in Sri Lanka, even greater than its famed rubber. Commencing as an acolyte of Fr. Tissa Balasuriya and also a follower of Josef Stalin, he has traversed almost the entire political spectrum from groups in the lunatic fringe such as those of the Vikalpa Kandayamas, being Vartharaja Perumal’s cabinet minister in the N-E Provincial Council, Chandrika’s Bahujana Pakshaya, R. Premadasa’s political advisor and also of Mahinda Rajapaksa but of late has been confined to the political sink of the Rajapaksas.

Will Jayatilleke be resurrected to meet the challenge of Moon? But there are other malefic forces operating against him such as Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama who has gone right round town plastering himself on walls as the saviour of Lanka from the international community and other foreign affairs pundits as well.
Moon has also rejected the letter of the Non Aligned Nations in the UN accusing him of exceeding his authority.

Jealousy and revenge?

The allegations made against Moon, America and Western powers by various well- wishers of the Rajapaksas may have some degree of truth but on the whole is too simplistic, going down to a kindergarten level. Western powers it has been said are ‘jealous’ of Rajapaksa’s achievement in defeating LTTE terrorism militarily contrary to the wisdom of the Westerners and are being bribed and influenced by the cash rich Tamil diaspora. They want to take revenge from the government it is said.

Moon is singing for an extension of his second term in office, is another Sri Lankan conclusion. While pique, hurt, rejection of ideology and even bribes to certain individuals may causes temporary changes in foreign policy attitudes of some countries, it is doubtful that the most powerful and influential nations would alter course of their foreign policies because of ‘jealousy’ and ‘revenge’.

There are much better reasons to cite for this change. It will be recalled that before the advent of Mahinda Rajapaksa, this country’s foreign policy and to a great extent its internal policies too were directed by the so called four Co-Chairs presiding over the peace process. The thrust in the peace process was devolution of power to the extent of a federal solution. Rajapaksa’s battle cry even during the first presidential election campaign was ‘no federalism’ and for a ‘unitary Sri Lanka’. He was immediately placed into the category of ‘a hardliner’ and was written off by Western powers.

Blessed with luck of the LTTE splitting up and the Karuna faction which provided the cannon fodder for LTTE terrorism — Karuna himself being a spearhead in LTTE military forays — the security forces swept through the Eastern Province. The thinking at that time was that Pirapaharan had done a strategic retreat to the Wanni pulling back the bulk of his forces. It is now realised that the split in the northern and eastern wings of the LTTE greatly weakened the military capabilities of the LTTE. With tremendous firepower and manpower being acquired by the armed forces and the relentless pursuit of the enemy by Army Commander Sarath Fonseka’s forces, the much vaunted LTTE forces were wiped out.

The Chinese embrace

The second reason for the jaundiced view of the Rajapaksa administration by the West could be the link up with China. Rajapaksa was once again blessed with tremendous fortunes because China around 2005-7 was in the process of building up its ‘String of Pearls’ in the Indian Ocean — to project its naval power — and saw Hambantota as one of the most attractive of the pearls in the string.

In 2007 during Rajapaksa’s visit to China a $ 37.6 billion deal for supply of armaments were struck with China followed by a $ 1 billion deal in 2008 for the construction of a deep water port in Hambantota and a Friendship City there. Much more Chinese economic assistance is continuing to flow in.

All this resulted in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy taking a right angled turn away from the West. Inspired by Chinese influence, we embraced the military junta of Burma that has repressed the Burmese people for over 40 years, struck a close relationship with Iran, and even with Libya. The greatest concern was the deep water seaport at Hambantota which is only about 10 miles away from the main shipping route in the Indian Ocean that could enable the control and monitoring of maritime traffic from the West to the Straits of Malacca.

The obsession of the US State Department with human rights violations resulted in losing sight of the tremendous strategic importance of Sri Lanka and more the rising military and economic power of Asia gaining a definite foothold. The powerful US Foreign Relations Committee in a special report pointed out to the strategic loss to the US and concluded that the United States ‘cannot afford to lose Sri Lanka’.

Rejection of the Four Co-Chairs — US, European Union , Norway and Japan as our friends and philosophers guiding us in our peace process and the embrace with China together with its allies in our opinion is a much more cogent reason for the hostility of the Western powers towards the Rajapaksa government than ‘jealousy’ and’ revenge’.

And Ban Ki-Moon certainly has to be in step with the West. Remember what happened to Boutros- Boutros Ghali, the Egyptian Secretary General who was not viewed with much favour by Americans?

President Rajapaksa has said that Moon’s call for the appointment of a panel on alleged violation of human rights could influence the result of the April 8 election. Indeed it is true. But in our opinion it would favour the President’s party! A lone Sri Lankan standing against the might of America, Europe and the UN! What better heroic picture can be presented to the electorate? Earlier too Obama, Hillary Clinton, Gordon Brown and others helped Rajapaksa to win the eight provincial councils and the presidential election by demanding from Rajapaksa that he call off the military offensive which more than 75 per cent of the electorate backed. Wittingly or unwittingly this is the second Western push by the West for Rajapaksa and his clan.