Rajapaksa likely to strengthen China relations

COLOMBO: The unfinished, purple-headed Lotus Tower soars uselessly into the Colombo sky, mired in corruption allegations -- a project typical of China's misadventures in Sri Lanka under a political dynasty that has just returned to power.

With the Rajapaksas clan now back, Beijing will likely be too, experts say.

On Monday Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as president, almost five years after his brother Mahinda´s decade in charge ended in ignominy in 2015 as allegations of corruption and nepotism surfaced.

Under Mahinda, who may become prime minister, Sri Lanka secured almost $7 billion in loans from China, dislodging Japan as Sri Lanka´s main funder of infrastructure.

But many of the projects have proven to be white elephants, including a $210-million airport that has no commercial flights.

In 2016 troops had to shoo away deer, wild buffalo and elephants from the site.

China also financed a 35,000-seat cricket stadium which seldom hosts matches, a performing arts centre in Colombo with few shows and a misfiring power plant. Some of the money was allocated under Beijing´s gargantuan Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) spanning Asia and beyond and aimed at facilitating trade.

Western countries worry that the BRI conceals China´s efforts to expand its influence by loaning nations money only to acquire the assets when they cannot repay. Hambantota port in southern Sri Lanka, situated on a key maritime trading route between Europe and Asia, is for critics a prime example.

In December 2017, Sri Lanka was forced to hand the port over to China on a 99-year lease after failing to service a $1.4-billion debt from Beijing to build it.