Category Archives: foreign policy

January 22, 2022 · 8:28 pm

Serbia, Rio Tinto, Novak Djokovic and Australia’s Rancid Hypocrisy  

Fair Dinkum

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has announced her country is expelling Rio Tinto as it pulls out of the Jadar lithium project, costing Australia $3.6 billion. Brnabić told reporters: “All decisions (linked to the lithium project) and all licences have been annulled.” She went on to conclude: “As far as project Jadar is concerned, this is an end.”

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić speaks during a news conference after a Serbian government session about Rio Tinto, in Belgrade, Serbia, January 20, 2022.

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January 18, 2022 · 11:48 pm

The Pandora’s Box That is the Djokovic Case

Josh Roose, in The Age, 16 January 2022, where the chosen title runs thus: “Right and left unite over Djokovic – and why they are both wrong”

It is easy to dislike Novak Djokovic. At the height of a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives globally, he has consistently refused to reveal his vaccination status, despite freely travelling the world for tennis tournaments, and has been pictured acting irresponsibly on numerous occasions.For many, he has become the embodiment of the adage that one rule applies for the wealthy and powerful and another for the rest of us.

 

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January 11, 2022 · 11:40 am

Hambantota Port and Its Prospects

Facemask ..in The Island, 11 January 2022 ….https://island.lk/55469-2/

The Hambantota International Port (HIP), which continues to come under attack by the Opposition, has said it expects an impressive growth in time to come.

The HIP has in a media statement said it has received FSS certification (Fitness for Service) for their tank farm facility. “The certification was issued by Lloyd’s Register (LR), the World’s leading provider of classification, compliance and consultancy services to marine and offshore industries.  This is a landmark achievement that will further strengthen the HIP brand in the maritime world.”

 

 

 

 

Site inspection (L-R): Liu Shengshan- Construction Manager, Sinopec Construction LLC; Wang Chuanzheng- Deputy project Manager, Sinopec Construction LLC; Sarathchandra Kumara – Senior Specialist-Energy Services; Ambrish Bansal Vice President – Business Advisory & Consulting Lloyd’s Register; SL. Kulkarni- Senior Inspector Oil & Gas – Lloyd’s Register. Continue reading →

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January 10, 2022 · 1:32 pm

Ambassador Palitha Kohona in Q-And-A with CGTN

Su Yuting of CGTN in Q-and-A with Ambassador Palitha Kohona  …. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-09/Exclusive-CGTN-interview-with-Sri-Lankan-ambassador-to-China-16FUZ3Y2tgs/index.html

2022 marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka. To know more about the development of that relationship, CGTN reporter Su Yuting sat down with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona.

Kohona said the relationship between China and Sri Lanka is very warm and is built on a solid foundation, adding that it is a relationship that has lasted over 2,000 years. Sri Lanka and China have moved closer to each other in recent times, and the two countries have supported each other at multilateral fora on many occasions.

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January 5, 2022 · 6:01 pm

Searching Investigations from Verite Research in 2021

A VERITE RESEARCH BULLETIN

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As we approach the end of the year, there is much to look back on and reflect upon. I am glad to share with you some of the highlights of the recent month in this Verité Bulletin.

We have long felt that democracy is not meaningful when citizens are not critically cognizant of the information in relation to public finance. This is why Verité Research strategically expanded its work on Public Finance. The platform that we built, PublicFinance.lk, is probably the pre-eminent locus for information and analysis on the state of Sri Lanka’s public finance.

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January 2, 2022 · 3:08 pm

More Tourists reaching Sri Lanka Now, But … …..

News Item, 16 December 2021: “First 2 weeks of Dec. draw over 24,000 tourists”

Tourism Minister overwhelmed by rebound in arrivals. Nearly 130,000 tourists have come since reopening of borders in late Jan. With just 15 days to year-end, original target of 200,000 tourists unachievable


[However} a record 24,773 tourists have arrived in the country within the first two weeks of December, reinforcing the industry’s optimism for the winter season. “There is a significant increase in the tourist arrivals to the country from September, and we hope the trend will continue,” Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said yesterday.

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December 30, 2021 · 7:20 pm

USA’s Hegemonic Designs Sustain A Dangerous Wonderland

 Jean-Pierre Page, whose preferred title is “The Longer Telegram and “sleepy Joe”in Wonderland!

The Biden Administration appears to be implementing most of the recommendations in the Atlantic Council’s Longer Telegram: Toward a new American China strategy, an important strategic document about US policy towards China published in January 2021.  This document is one of a troika produced by the Atlantic Council; the other two are Global Strategy 2021: An Allied Strategy for China, published in December 2020 with a preface by Joseph Nye, and The China plan: A transatlantic blueprint for strategic competition, published in March 2021.

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December 30, 2021 · 4:53 pm

The Horrendous Record of Western Manipulations in Recent World History

Fair Dinkum, responding to the Global Times item in Thuppahi entitled “China on the World Stage: A Judicious Assessment,”….. https://thuppahis.com/2021/12/30/china-on-the-world-stage-a-judicuous-assessment/

We need to move to a new narrative about China, but also a new structure for the world, and not allow Western defence or military establishments to play language games over China, just because the rise of China doesn’t suit them. To take one example, in an article published in the US “Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy” journal this year titled “Cold war Redux: The West Loses Africa’s Horn” – just thinking about the title says much about colonialism. From the 18th to the 20th centuries, African nations were colonialised and carved up by the Britain, France, Portugal, Germany and Belgium for their own selfish gains. They did the same in Asia, the Middle East and South America. They were all Western powers.

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December 13, 2021 · 11:54 pm

Tamara Kunanayakam: Some Career Highlights

Michael Roberts

I got to know Tamara Kunanayakam and her partner, Jean-Pierre Page, and their dog Umberto[1] when staying overnight with them at their rented house in Battaramulla around 2016[2] during the course of my inquiries into Sri Lankan political affairs on the diplomatic circuit and the UNHRC in particular. Since Tamara was our Ambassador at the UNHRC in Geneva in the years 2011-12, this was a logical step.

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December 12, 2021 · 12:37 pm

Struggles in Geneva … with Yakku within the Rajapaksa Officialdom

Uditha Devapriya, in The  Island, 11 December 2021,reviewing Rajiva Wijesinha’s Representing Sri Lanka  (S. Godage & Brothers, 2021, 189 pp. Rs. 750) …. where the title is “Downhill All The Way”

I met Rajiva Wijesinha for the first time four years ago, at the Organisation of Professional Associations in Colombo. At a seminar on English language learning and teaching there, he handed me a book he had published a few days earlier. Titled Endgames and Excursions, it was an account of his official travels, friendships, and associations. I remember promising to review it, reading it, and then laying it aside. It was an unforgivable lapse, but one I now feel was justified: I was simply not qualified for the task.

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