aThe mass protests in Colombo made headlines around the world, with the news spreading across Chinese state media and social media platforms. The declaration of national bankruptcy by Sri Lanka and the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa were the most discussed topics on Chinese social media.
The hashtag “Sri Lankan President officially announces his resignation” on Weibo has garnered over 78 million views. The hashtag “Massive Protest March in Sri Lanka” has been viewed 180 million times on Weibo. Chinese search engine Baidu has created a special page to track developments in Sri Lanka. Twist? Chinese nationalists blame the US for organizing the protests. While many blamed China’s infrastructure plans for worsening Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, the Chinese had a different target. Most agreed that there had been a “color revolution” and a “CIA-led coup” in the island nation.
“The protests in Sri Lanka were organized by the United States Agency for International Development, with CIA phantoms everywhere, and called on Western countries not to interfere with the protests in Sri Lanka because it is a color revolution! Sri Lanka Belt End There is an important stop on the road, and the United States is doing its best to figure it out,” said Huang Ani, a Taiwanese singer based in Beijing. Huang has over 6 million followers on Weibo.
Other users shared a screenshot of a tweet by a handle named “SNMilitary”, which Claimed The protest in Sri Lanka was prepared by USAID. The Twitter handle said the protest was a ‘color revolution’ supported by ‘Western diplomats’. The account claims to be a ‘veteran of the navy’ and shares mostly pro-Russian tweets.
“The CIA-backed coup in Sri Lanka is a fact. Western diplomats supported him and urged him not to interfere. Things are a color revolution in Sri Lanka.” Told A Weibo user citing a tweet by SNMilitary.
The popularity of the tweet on Sina Weibo reflects the impact of pro-Russian propaganda related to the Sri Lanka crisis on Chinese public opinion.
‘What does bankruptcy mean’ – China wants to know
In addition to blaming the US, media commentators tried to explain the reasons for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and subsequent political turmoil.
Articles on July 10 Crimes and Punishments of Sri Lanka’s Bankruptcy Crisis by Guangzhou southern weekly was read 1.1 million times on Weibo. The article discusses the domestic causes of Sri Lanka’s plight.
“Due to the pandemic, the tourism industry has been hit hard, and related service industries such as aviation, hotels and catering have declined, resulting in the deteriorating economy of Sri Lanka over the past two years. The Sri Lankan government is eager to reform and has taken on huge debt, resulting in high debt and what could be the ‘first collapse’ economy since the pandemic. Southern Weekly Article, which was originally published on April 21.
The Sri Lankan news has also asked social media users the meaning of ‘declaring bankruptcy’. The hashtag “What does it mean to declare a national bankruptcy?” 30 million views on Weibo.
“The financial term ‘national bankruptcy’ was proposed by the International Monetary Fund in 2002 and refers to a situation in which a country’s external assets are less than its external liabilities, i.e. insolvency,” Beijing Economic News Explained in a video.
Some users blamed the West-led IMF for Sri Lanka’s plight.
More experienced Chinese experts tried to examine the crisis through the framework of geopolitics.
“In this Sri Lanka crisis, the United States, Japan, India and Australia plan to ‘build a delegation’ to establish a foreign aid association to collectively respond to the crisis. perform their duties, but are consolidating the ‘legitimate’ of the ‘quad mechanism’ to deal with the crisis as a whole. is,” wrote Xu Liping, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Read also: People vs Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka and why it turned out like this
fuzzy language, clear message
Beijing is scrambling to find the right narrative for the political turmoil in Sri Lanka.
Chinese state media reiterated some of the earlier points challenging the ‘debt trap’ argument for the Sri Lankan crisis.
“Many factors are responsible for Sri Lanka’s crisis,” Told Title of an unsigned English editorial in China Daily,
China is only third among Sri Lanka’s creditors after Japan and the Asian Development Bank, which account for only 10 percent of its debt. Its loans have primarily served Sri Lanka’s infrastructure and economic development.” Told editorial.
There are many narratives in China for its handling of the situation in Sri Lanka. China did not supported Any faction that can replace Rajapaksa.
“China is not leaning towards one bloc or the other… so the previous Sri Lankan governments all want to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with China,” Told Liu Zhongyi, Senior Fellow at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies.
“As far as Sri Lanka’s debt related to China is concerned, China supports the financial institutions concerned to hold talks with Sri Lanka to find a suitable solution. We look forward to working with relevant countries and international financial institutions to play a positive role for Sri Lanka to address current difficulties, reduce debt and achieve sustainable development. Told Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Tuesday.
We can safely say that China does not want to support the island nation’s crisis.
The author is a columnist and a freelance journalist, currently pursuing an MSc in International Politics with a focus on China from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He was previously a Chinese media reporter for the BBC World Service. He tweeted @aadilbrar. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Neera Mazumdar)