Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that the Indian government has done a lot to help Sri Lanka and China is ready to work with India and the rest of the international community to help Sri Lanka and other developing countries.

A representative from China’s CCTV asked Zhao Lijian about President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s recent claim that China seems to have shifted its strategic focus to Southeast Asia and Africa, and has less interest in South Asia.

The foreign ministry spokesman said that as a traditional friendly neighbor, China pays close attention to and feels for the difficulties and challenges facing Sri Lanka.

“We have all along provided support to Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic development as long as our ability permits. China has announced that it would provide emergency humanitarian assistance worth 500 million RMB for Sri Lanka. The first delivery of medicine has arrived in Sri Lanka, and the first shipment of rice has left China for Sri Lanka. Through government-to-government and subnational channels and through friendly organizations, China has provided multiple batches of assistance in diverse forms to people across the sectors of Sri Lanka to improve their livelihood”, he said.

Zhao added that shortly after the Sri Lankan government announced to suspend international debt payments, Chinese financial institutions reached out to the Sri Lankan side and expressed their readiness to find a proper way to handle the matured debts related to China and help Sri Lanka to overcome the current difficulties.

“We hope Sri Lanka will work actively with China in a similar spirit and work out a feasible solution expeditiously. China is ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development. In the meantime, we believe Sri Lanka will boost its own effort, protect the stability and credibility of the investment and financing partners and ensure the stability and credibility of Sri Lanka’s investment and financing environment”, he said.

He said that South Asian countries, along with the other countries in our neighboring areas, are China’s priority in its diplomacy. China attaches great importance to forging closer good neighborly relations with its neighbors and has worked hard to this end. China and South Asian countries are each other’s friendly neighbors and development partners.

“Together we belong to one community with a shared future. From natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, to global challenges like financial crises and COVID-19, history has shown that China has always stood in solidarity with South Asian countries through difficult times. Under the current circumstances, China will work with relevant countries to respond to risks and challenges and pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation to jointly sustain the sound momentum of security, stability, cooperation and development in our region and bring great benefits for all peoples in this region”, he said.

A representative from India’s PTI followed up by asking about a statement made by the Chinese ambassador to Colombo earlier this year that China was considering a line of credit to Colombo. The PTI journalist said that this credit line has not materialised so far, though China went about with some relief and medical supplies.

“My question is, is China concerned about the kind of economic crisis being faced by several South Asian countries? Not Sri Lanka alone, that includes Pakistan as well, are seeking bailout packages, especially from the IMF. Is China, a major investor in these countries, hesitating to provide huge assistance?” the journalist asked.

Zhao said that China notes and follows closely the financial, fiscal and international balance of payment difficulties facing the South Asian countries and other developing countries as you mentioned. The difficulties faced by these countries partly stem from the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also have a lot to do with the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the unilateral sanctions slapped by the US and other Western countries on Russia in the wake of the conflict, he said, adding that the sanctions aggravated the food crisis and financial difficulties in developing countries and inflicted even more hardships on the people.

“Just now I outlined some of China’s efforts to help Sri Lanka. We have taken note that the Indian government has also done a lot in this regard. We commend those efforts. China is ready to work with India and the rest of the international community to help Sri Lanka and other developing countries experiencing difficulty to pull through the hardship as early as possible. I assume you have also noticed that the shipment and arrival of medicine, rice and other supplies donated by Chinese provinces and cities to Sri Lanka. The Chinese government will do its utmost and make full use of the channels available to deliver help to the Sri Lankan society”, he said.