House of Lords Conservative peer highlights Chinese investment in SL amidst cuts to overseas aid budget

By Sunil Jayasiri  

Citing Sri Lanka as a prime example, UK’s Conservative peer Lord Hugo Swire drew attention to the adverse effects of cutting the UK’s overseas aid budget, which has inadvertently created opportunities for other countries, notably China, to step in and provide financial support.  

The former minister Swire, who is a current member of the House of Lords speaking in the House of Lords on Thursday (19) on the ‘Long-Term Strategic Challenges Posed by China’ also emphasised the importance of acknowledging their own role in this situation, rather than solely blaming China for seizing the opportunity.  

“For example, Sri Lanka is in the newspapers today. There is much criticism of people attending a seminar to attract investment in the Gulf for the Port City Colombo because the funding is Chinese,” he said, adding that “The whole idea of that webinar was surely to show the rest of the world the opportunities to dilute the Chinese funding. You cannot criticise on one hand and practise inactivity on the other.”  

Lord Swire emphasised the importance of acknowledging our own role in this situation, rather than solely blaming China for seizing the opportunity.  

“I regret that we cut our overseas aid budget, which has affected some of these places so adversely and left the door open for others—very often the Chinese—to come in. We cannot blame the Chinese for doing what we want to do, just because they are prepared to put the money on the table, and we are not, he said.  

Last week, the London Times reported that former UK Prime Minister David Cameron is facing criticism for promoting a Chinese-funded port city in Sri Lanka amid concerns that it will give Beijing a significant foothold in the Indo-Pacific.