Diplomatic gaffes embarrass Lanka’s friendly nations: Sunday Times

A huge diplomatic gaffe came to pass this week when Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya thanked Taiwan, China’s arch-enemy, for an “incredibly generous donation” given—and said so in the presence of the Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong to boot, the Sunday Times reported. 

The event was the handing over of clothing material for school children by the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Instead, Dr. Amarasuriya thanked the ‘Republic of China’ (ROC)—the official name for Taiwan, with whom the PRC is on the verge of war. Sri Lanka has no diplomatic ties with the ROC either and in fact does not recognise the breakaway state.

The entire day began on the wrong footing with the prime minister’s absence at the ceremony at the Colombo Port and the Chinese ambassador kicking his heels waiting for her. Unable to stomach this—looking a gift horse in the mouth, the envoy fled back to the air-conditioned comfort of his office. He returned almost an hour later for the ceremony when the PM eventually arrived and then must have jolted in his seat when she thanked their enemy for the expensive gift.

One can only overlook the diplomatic bloopers and blunders made by the newbies in the new government as teething problems, much to the embarrassment of Sri Lanka’s friendly nations.

On Monday, the Iraqi embassy held a gala event in a Colombo five-star hotel to celebrate 100 years of Iraq’s
diplomacy. However, despite it being Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Handunnetti’s turn to attend diplomatic functions in December, he failed to appear.

Neither was there anyone to substitute him. It seemed that neither Minister Handunnetti’s office nor the Foreign Ministry’s protocol division informed the Iraq embassy about the minister’s inability to attend the ceremony.

The function went ahead without a single Sri Lankan government representative attending, although Sri Lanka’s national and Iraqi national flags were on the stage. Honouring the invitation, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was present and stood out. Only the other day, the President, in his parliamentary opening address, referred to his government’s foreign policy as being to be redirected towards increasing trade overseas.

Oil-rich Iraq is not just another country. It is Sri Lanka’s number one tea buyer, accounting for 27.11 million kgs of Sri Lanka’s tea exports in the first ten months of this year. Iraq is a founding member of the United Nations and was also a member of the League of Nations, the predecessor to the UN. (Sunday Times)