LSSP cautions government on US State Secretary’s visit

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) has cautioned the government not to fall into the USA’s trap to get Sri Lanka involved in the war of attrition between the US and China.

LSSP General Secretary Prof. Tissa Vitarana said in a statement yesterday (27): “During the US State Secretary’s visit, there will also be pressure to sign the MCC and SOFA agreements that the UNP-led yahapalanaya government was prepared to sign to obtain a grant of US$ 480 million. The Gunaruwan Committee has given instances of countries like Madagascar that signed and fulfilled the conditions, but did not receive the promised amount of money. Not surprising, as the USA itself is in an economic crisis and heavily in debt.

“The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is one of the most powerful politicians in the world. He is also the USA’s Minister of State (in the USA the members of the Cabinet are called Secretaries, not Ministers). His present visit to Sri Lanka, and three other Asian countries including India, is to get some Asian support for its planned attack on China, which has not received the support of ASEAN.

“For example, the Philippines President Duterte has said that he is not ready to go to war with China, and will resolve their issues bilaterally and peacefully. Even the European Union led by Germany has recognised that China is only interested in trade, and it is refusing to support the USA’s military attack on China, the LSSP statement further noted.

“The USA is advancing its “India First” policy to rally Asian support against China. Pakistan has taken China’s side and Sri Lanka too must do the same. This is a truly Non-aligned Policy to which all countries that were colonized have always subscribed to, from the time we were liberated from Imperialist rule. Under no circumstances should Sri Lanka support USA military aggression against China, it added.

“Even staying neutral is tacit approval. We must oppose war by the USA against a fellow Third World country. What right has the USA to claim that China poses a military danger to it, when its boundaries are thousands of miles away? It is the USA that has over 400 military bases around China, while China has only one outside its boundaries”, the LSSP said.

“Signing the MCC and SOFA agreements would compel us to support USA aggression. The MCC agreement would enable the USA to exploit our economy without restriction and its companies to buy our land besides establishing rapid transport links from Colombo to Trincomalee. The SOFA agreement would allow thousands of armed troops from the USA to use the whole of Sri Lanka as a military base (now that they are losing Diego Garcia, their main Indian Ocean base).

“Thus, the LSSP appeals to the Government to take a non-aligned stance and support China. It is also vitally important that Sri Lanka does not sign the MCC and SOFA agreements.

“The Sri Lankan government should ensure that the UN Declaration on the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace be implemented immediately. This is a declaration which Sri Lanka itself initiated.”