I don't know if you have heard of Matara Rajapaksa International Airport? This airport is located in Sri Lanka.
It cost $209 million to build, most of which was paid by China.
Although the current situation of this airport is not good, China did not expect that one day the Sri Lankan Congress will hand over its management to India.
Relations between China and India are now in a state of white-hot heat.
At this juncture, Sri Lanka handed over the management of the airport built by China to India, does it think that China is easy to handle?
1. The history of the construction of Matara Rajapaksa International Airport
Sri Lanka is a smaller island nation located right in the vast Indian Ocean.
The country's economic development is worrying, and if you do it alone, the construction of this international airport is like a fantasy.
But China is a warm-hearted country and is willing to help Sri Lanka develop, so there is a plan for this international airport.
Construction began in April 2011, with an area of about 2,000 hectares according to the original plan, and ultimately cost nearly US$210 million, or 1.5 billion yuan.
China has borne a large part of the huge investment, and it is precisely because of China's help that the construction of this airport can be successfully funded.
In addition to providing funds, China has also given strong support for the construction of the project.
China's Hong Kong Group contracted the construction of the airport, and the construction of the runway, apron and other projects was all completed by this company.
The construction progress of the project is relatively fast, and it was completed in less than two years.
In March 2013, the international airport was officially unveiled to the expectations of everyone and welcomed its first passengers.
By this time, it was officially operational.
As Sri Lanka's first greenfield airport and the third international airport, Matala International Airport is in the spotlight.
It is understood that it has a runway of 3,500 meters, and such a long runway is definitely one of the best in the entire South Asian region.
Not only that, but the interior is also well equipped, with a passenger terminal of 12,000 square meters and a cargo terminal of about 10,000 square meters.
At the same time, an air traffic control tower was set up with a height of 35 meters.
On the whole, this airport is relatively luxurious, with a strong carrying capacity, comparable to the Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, the mainland.
At the beginning of construction, the airport was expected to have an annual passenger capacity of 1 million passengers.
It's just that the ideal is very plump, and the reality is very skinny, let alone 1 million people, I'm afraid even 100,000 people are very difficult.
As far as the eye can see, the huge airport has only a handful of passengers and staff.
There were no announcements about flights on the radio, and taxis waiting for passengers were rarely seen near the entrances and exits of the airport.
Faced with such a situation, people can't help but joke that this international airport is the emptiest airport in the world.
Although there are not many people who come here to fly, its operating expenses are far beyond our imagination, so it is ridiculed as the most expensive airport.
Second, Sri Lanka's surrender of airport management to India caught China off guard
With such a large airport and such a low number of passengers per day, it is obviously very difficult for Sri Lanka to maintain its operations.
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In order not to continue to lose money, the local government thought of handing it over to other companies to manage.
At the beginning of the year, Sri Lanka received applications from five different companies.
After some deliberation, it was decided to hand over the management of the airport to a company consisting of India and Russia.
Although Sri Lanka is a small island country, it is strategically located in the heart of the Indian Ocean.
For China, Sri Lanka can be the best trading partner, after all, it is located on the golden route of international trade.
It is also important to note that the international airport was built at the expense of China.
Now Sri Lanka has made such a decision and handed over the management rights to India, which is a great challenge for China's strategic layout.
No matter what time of year it is, airports are an important hub for connecting international markets.
Although the current Matara Rajapaksa International Airport is in a state of recession, it has great potential to operate, especially in the development of international trade.
The reason why China wants to invest in the construction of a number of projects in Sri Lanka, including the Matara Rajapaksa International Airport, is nothing more than to be able to obtain more economic benefits and at the same time achieve its own strategic goals.
Today, the management of Matara Rajapaksa International Airport is vested in India, which means that all the benefits of the airport will go to India in the future.
As an infrastructure project, the initial capital investment is relatively large, and it takes a long time to recover the cost and achieve profitability.
China has invested nearly $200 million in the airport, but it has not made any profit until now, and even the money it has invested has not been returned.
It is even more difficult for India to suddenly cut off its beard halfway and continue to recoup funds.
As a result, Chinese companies will directly face huge economic losses.
In addition to the economic losses, Chinese companies also face reputational losses.
Why? Because the contractor of the Matara Rajapaksa International Airport is a Chinese company.
And this is one of the most important projects for China in Sri Lanka, and the management should be firmly controlled by itself.
However, now that the management is no longer in China, whether India or not, the reputational damage of Chinese companies is inevitable.
In the eyes of the outside world, the main reason why Sri Lanka wants to hand over the management of the airport to India is because there are huge loopholes in the management of Chinese companies.
For any country in the world, it is not willing to have more in-depth cooperation with countries or enterprises with management loopholes.
When such ideas are deeply rooted, the image of Chinese enterprises in the international community is bound to decline sharply, and their credibility will also plummet.
In the process of future development, Chinese enterprises will lose their advantages in the international arena.
Third, Sri Lanka thinks that China is easy to handle or there are other reasons
If you don't pay attention to international affairs, you may not know the current situation in Sri Lanka.
In fact, by 2020, the country had an extremely serious economic crisis, and even the prime minister himself admitted that the country was already facing bankruptcy.
Under the shadow of the economic crisis, there is a severe shortage of food, medicine and other essential materials, and people's daily lives have been greatly affected.
This has led to anger among the Sri Lankan population, which has led to more and more demonstrators.
They constantly protested to the government and even stormed the president's residence.
In the face of the menacing people, the president and the prime minister had no power to resist and had no choice but to flee in a hurry.
In fact, Sri Lanka's economic woes have existed for a long time.
It is understood that in 2020, the external debt owed exceeded 100% of GDP.
Later, after the baptism of the epidemic, the economic situation became worse, and the whole country was weakened.
In the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in recent years, energy prices are rising all over the world.
Sri Lanka is a small country with no strong economy, and its foreign exchange is quickly depleted in the face of rising energy prices.
If you don't have money in your hand, you want to buy oil and coal, it's just a pipe dream.
Without the support of these basic energy sources, life in Sri Lanka is paralyzed.
Cars alone can't be refueled, even in urban areas, there are frequent power outages, factories can't continue to operate, and even supermarkets can't buy and sell.
Originally, Matara Rajapaksa International Airport was built to be able to make a profit for the country and thus improve the economic situation.
However, the project, which cost nearly $210 million, not only did not achieve the intended goal, but further exacerbated the burden on Sri Lanka's economy.
It is precisely because of this that Sri Lanka thought of leasing out the project so as to recoup some of the funds.
Reducing financial pressure will also benefit the development of the country's tourism and transportation industries.
In Sri Lanka, Indian companies are very rich in both operational experience and operational resources.
Putting an airport in the hands of such a company can go a long way in improving operational efficiency.
Sri Lanka handed over the management of the airport to India, not only to ease economic pressures, but also to take into account geopolitics.
Since the construction of the airport began, India has coveted it and wanted to get the right to operate it.
Because the airport is very close to the mainland, it is about half an hour's drive.
In addition to the airport, there are other Chinese investments in Sri Lanka.
For example, the port established before did help Sri Lanka develop its economy and improve the economic depression for a time.
In the face of this situation, India's worries are becoming more and more intense, fearing that its influence in Sri Lanka will be replaced by China, and its strategic position will inevitably be greatly threatened.
With the help of India and some Western countries, Sri Lanka eventually handed over the operation of the airport to India.
In Sri Lanka's view, he did so simply to balance the relationship between the two great powers.
He doesn't want to offend one or the other and lose the support of the other.
Another possible reason is that Sri Lanka itself is wary of the mainland.
In recent years, the mainland's investment in Sri Lanka has become more and more intensive, and its influence has also been rising, and Sri Lanka is worried that there will be debt-trap diplomacy and will fall into a passive situation when the time comes.
Relations between China and India are not very good, one might even say strained.
Sri Lanka's handing over the management of the airport to India is tantamount to handing it over to China's adversary.
In this way, it can prove to the outside world that it is not completely dependent on China, and can cooperate with other countries.
summary
Generally speaking, Sri Lanka's approach is not simply that China is easy to handle, but that it takes into account many factors, and in the final analysis, it is still for its own interests.
It's just that this approach can only alleviate the economic pressure in a short period of time, and if you are not careful, you may fall into a more embarrassing situation in the future.
Resources
Popular Science Apocalypse2024-05-22 "Sri Lanka is ungrateful? Putting China's airports in the hands of India could weaken China's influence》
Lao Yan Kanshi2024-05-10 What do you think of China? Sri Lanka handed over China-built airport to India for management》
Prof. Zheng Jiyong2024-04-29 "China's project, Sri Lanka will be handed over to India to manage, and the road to joining the BRICS will be blocked by Sri Lanka itself"