Beijing: A wary China Tuesday hoped the Maldives’ new government will provide an “enabling environment” to the Chinese companies and stick to the controversial Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Beijing signed with the now ousted President Abdulla Yameen.
China congratulated the Maldives for holding successful elections in which Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) defeated incumbent Yameen, perceived to be close to Beijing. The MDP was critical of increased Chinese investment and the FTA which was rushed through the country’s Parliament without debate last year.
“China congratulates the Maldives on its successful Presidential election and as well as Solih’s victory. We respect Maldives people’s choice and we hope the country can maintain stability and development,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said
“As to the FTA, signed between Chin and the Maldives, we believe we have always encouraged the Chinese to invest and operate in accordance with the market-based rules and the regulations.
“And we hope the Maldives will maintain consistency and stability of their policy and create an enabling environment and atmosphere for the Chinese operation there,” Geng added. “China and Maldives signed an FTA and it came into force from August 1. China will work with the Maldives to ensure the sound implementation of FTA and expand trade and investment cooperation between both the sides for the greater benefit and development of people of both the nations,” Geng said.
Geng was responding to a question on whether China was worried over the election of the new government which might renegotiate deals signed by Yameen’s government. The Maldives sits on one the world’s busiest shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean where both India and China vie for influence.
The Maldives has always been a traditional ally of India. But under Yameen’s presidency, the country moved closer to China, worrying New Delhi. China, which didn’t even have an embassy in Male until 2011, has stepped up its engagement in the country by building bridges, airport and high-end housing complexes.
Nation destroys British statues ‘offensive’ to Islam
Colombo: Police armed with pickaxes and power tools have destroyed a modern artwork by a celebrated British sculptor in the Maldives, after the outgoing president in the tourist haven declared the installation offensive to Islam. Abdulla Yameen in July ordered the sculptures demolished but his ruling was not acted upon until Friday, on the eve of a presidential election which he lost to a liberal candidate. A series of statues by Jason deCaires Taylor were placed inside a semi-submerged metal cube in July at a resort in the Maldives, an archipelago of 340,000 Sunni Muslims popular with tourists. Islam, the official religion in the Maldives, bans the depiction of idols, and the work provoked some criticism from clerics even though the statues have no religious symbols or meaning.
