Features

What Swirls Beneath Research Activity of Chinese Ships in the Indian Ocean?

Published

3 years ago

2023/11/12

The Chinese research ship Shi Yan 6 is seen berthed at Colombo harbor, Oct. 26, 2023. Pic by Eranga Jayawardena

Collection of oceanic data will provide China with information about seabed resources and also help it prepare for submarine warfare.

by Rathindra Kuruwita

On October 31, Sri Lankan and Chinese researchers on board the Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6, which recently docked at Colombo port in Sri Lanka, began two days of “marine scientific” research off the Sri Lankan coast.

The docking of the Shi Yan 6 a few days earlier had stirred strong responses from India and the United States. The same thing happened last year when another Chinese ship, the Yuan Wang 5, had docked at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Sabry acknowledged that the Sri Lankan government had come under pressure from India and other parties to halt the arrival of the Chinese research vessel. He emphasized the complexity of the situation due to geopolitics and the need to be prepared to handle these pressures while maintaining good relations with all involved parties.

Over the past 15 years, several Chinese research vessels and warships have visited Sri Lankan ports with limited media attention. It is only over the last couple of years that Chinese vessels arriving in Sri Lanka have received heightened scrutiny.

According to Dr. Nilanthi Samaranayake, a visiting expert at the United States Institute of Peace, the ongoing border conflict between China and India since 2020 has increased New Delhi’s concerns about China’s presence in the Indian Ocean. Recent visits of Chinese vessels to Lankan ports have garnered more attention, as they are closely monitored by the Indian Navy.

“The Chinese ships that have visited over the past year are different types with different missions and are closely tracked by the Indian Navy. The persistent border conflict between China and India since 2020 has elevated New Delhi’s threat perceptions of China’s presence in the Indian Ocean. This factor, combined with greater access to ship tracking data, has resulted in a situation where every visiting Chinese ship is likely to receive media attention for the foreseeable future,” Samaranayake said.

For most of the 20th century, the Indian Ocean has, at most, held secondary importance in the strategic considerations of Chinese leaders. China did assign a certain level of importance to India, primarily due to the longstanding border dispute that led to a short but significant war in 1962, India’s development of long-range missiles, and its acquisition of nuclear capabilities. For a long time, China lacked the naval capacity to project power in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and had not clearly articulated such ambitions in its public strategic documents. Additionally, the necessary military assets were not readily available.

However, significant changes have taken place in recent decades.

Increasing Chinese engagement in the IOR has raised fears among American and Indian strategists that China’s growing naval presence, together with control of strategically located ports in the region, might provide Beijing with significant military advantages far from its shores.

Indian observers are nervously eyeing China’s increasingly sophisticated military capabilities and noted its gradually expanding mission sets that extend beyond the waters of the western Pacific. American strategists, increasingly focused on a multifront competition with a rising China, are warning the world about China’s so-called debt-trap diplomacy. Both India and the United States insist that small countries within the region will not be able to navigate China’s political influence while retaining their freedom of maneuver.

From Indian and U.S. perspectives, these concerns are entirely reasonable. International relations scholars from the realist school had long predicted that India would be an important pillar in the balancing coalition that the United States would try to establish to contain China. And yet, most conclusions are derived not from present-day assessments of China’s influence, access, or capabilities in the region — all of which remain modest — but from future projections of its role in the wider IOR.

According to a 2020 Brookings Institution report, there are five “meta-mission objectives” that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might pursue in principle, and to varying degrees is already pursuing, roughly ordered from those that are the most notionally non-threatening to those that are the most ambitious and potentially troubling to the United States, and to its close partners in the region such as India.

They are: 1) conducting non-combat activities focused on protecting Chinese citizens and investments, and bolstering China’s soft power influence; 2) undertaking counterterrorism activities, unilaterally or with partners, against organizations that threaten China; 3) collecting intelligence in support of operational requirements, and against key adversaries; 4) supporting efforts aimed at coercive diplomacy toward small countries in the region; and 5) enabling effective operations in a conflict environment, namely the ability to deter, mitigate, or terminate a state-sponsored interdiction of trade bound for China, and to meaningfully hold at risk U.S. or Indian assets in the event of a wider conflict.

Of these, the third meta-mission objective seems to have caught the imagination of policymakers, strategists, and media outlets. Researchers affiliated with U.S. defense institutions have been raising concerns, dating back at least to 2017, regarding the potential significant implications of these vessels for U.S. national security.

In a 2018 report authored by Ryan D. Martinson and Peter A. Dutton of the U.S. Naval War College, it was noted that approximately 5 to 10 Chinese scientific research vessels were operating outside of Chinese jurisdictional waters, particularly in areas of the Indo-Pacific deemed strategically important. The authors also highlighted that most of the Chinese research vessels commissioned since 2012 are multifunctional research platforms equipped to conduct a wide array of research activities. These vessels primarily serve as hosts for various instruments, sensors, and equipment used for the collection of oceanic and atmospheric data.

The authors claim that certain sensors are affixed to these research vessels. For instance, many of these ships feature “science masts” at the bow, designed for the collection of meteorological data. Additionally, all these vessels are equipped with various sensors attached to their hulls. More modern vessels, such as the Kexue, are outfitted with “gondolas,” retractable structures located beneath the ship to prevent the interference of bubbles with data measurements.

Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) are employed to send sound waves into the water column, with the returning echoes providing information about the direction and speed of undersea currents. Multi-beam echo sounders utilize sound pulses to achieve precise measurements of ocean depth, which can then be used to ascertain the contours, or bathymetry, of the seabed.

Some of these sensors are towed behind the ship. For example, the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) research vessel Shiyan 1 boasts a twin-hull (SWATH) design, ensuring improved stability when towing its acoustic array. Several of these vessels can tow streamers utilized for seismic surveys, directing sound waves into the seabed. The strength and pattern of the echoes that return are then used to determine the geological composition of the subsoil, including the potential presence of oil and gas deposits.

China’s deployment of oceanographic research ships and related platforms in distant ocean areas is part of a massive program to collect oceanic data. What is the ultimate purpose of this collection effort?

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, a senior fellow at The Millennium Project in the United States, told The Diplomat that the Shi Yan 6 research vessel specializes in geophysical exploration, a capability that holds potential implications for submarine warfare.

Abeyagoonasekera raised two primary concerns: First, the apprehension that China could access critical data regarding seabed resources in the Indian Ocean, particularly in the context of intensified global competition for minerals and energy resources. Second, he highlighted the collection of ocean and seabed data by vessels like the Shi Yan 6, which could be used in the future for strategic naval planning, especially relating to submarine warfare.

These concerns are amplified by the perception that Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, once seen as a friend of India and the West, has moved closer to China, as evident in recent agreements such as the one with Huawei to digitize Sri Lankan schools, a deal that was rejected during Maithripala Sirisena’s presidency.

This shift in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy is causing concern in India, Abeyagoonasekera pointed out.

Although the era of unipolarity has passed, the nature of the international system dictates that the United States will not relinquish its dominant position in Asia without contesting China, the rising power. It has formed the Quad alliance to counter China.

From the realist lens, Sri Lanka’s reassurances may not fully alleviate the suspicions harbored by the containment alliance regarding the country’s relationship with China. However, by conducting its activities with China in a more transparent manner, Sri Lanka can potentially persuade at least some sections of the containment alliance that its ties with China do not pose an immediate threat.

Samaranayake suggests that given its strategic location along the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and its historical practice of allowing ship visits from extra-regional powers, Sri Lanka should promptly disclose the extensively discussed Standard Operating Procedure for foreign vessels entering Sri Lankan waters.

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Features

New US sanctions on ICC, a fillip to worldwide political repression

Published

18 hours ago

2026/10/15

Thilina Walpola

The International Criminal Court in session. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s warning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was stark: ‘Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.’ It followed US central administration accusations that the court was unfairly targeting Americans on the basis of trumped-up war crimes charges.

However, a new plethora of sanctions has been clamped on the ICC by the US, which in turn has spurred accusations by sections of the world that the latter has unleashed an ‘assault’ on the international legal order.

What some of the sanctions would mean for the ICC was outlined by Rubio: ‘We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us.’

The ICC has shown consistency of purpose over the years. Despite some operational constraints it has indicted a large number of political strongmen from around the world, accused of war crimes and other governance excesses that come under its purview. Two such recent figures are: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rather than enjoy a mere nominal presence in the world community, the ICC has proved its effectiveness by detaining and bringing to justice scores of VIP politicians and others of their ilk who have been found guilty of human rights abuses and kindred excesses that come within the terms of reference of the ICC.

Accordingly, the international justice system would be stymied considerably as a result of the ICC being dis-empowered, particularly financially. Needless to say, potential and real perpetrators of the species of crime coming under the jurisdiction of the ICC would stand to gain most from such anarchic tendencies. That is, political repression globally would be enabled to enjoy a new lease of life.

A detailing of the types of crime coming under the purview of the ICC provides an idea of what it would cost the international community if the ICC’s operations are gravely hampered. They are mainly: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

That is, the part of the world to be worst affected would be the global South, since the latter is awash with the mentioned crimes. Needless to say, a chronically-disaffected South will sooner rather than later undermine the well being of the world dangerously. The world is already being put through these paces.

At the time of writing, ‘illegal migrants’ from the South, for example, are aggravating many a Western economy’s woes, besides creating for them acute law and order issues. The fact that these migrants’ presence goes on to become a virtual test of the migrant receiving states’ ability to forge domestic social inclusion in the face of jingoistic protests by mainly white supremacist groups is evidence of the latter. As is known, the US, to take just one example, has been up against this crisis for quite a while.

Accordingly, it will be in the best interests of the West if ‘illegal’ migrant arrivals on their shores are stemmed. If the socio-political and economic problems assailing the South are effectively managed through North-South collaborative, ‘trouble-shooting’ efforts the causes leading to ‘illegal’ migration and connected issues could be resolved at source as it were. For, it is the aggravation of the South’s material questions that lays the basis for the emergence of repressive and anti-democratic regimes in the hemisphere.

Until such time that the aforementioned issues in North-South relations are visited afresh and addressed urgently, a vibrantly functioning ICC would be needed. For, the latter would prove a deterrent to Southern political and military strongmen, highly prone to power abuse and like excesses, from coming into being in the wake of the South’s chronic material woes and the wars and conflicts that result from them.

It stands to reason then that the US would be acting in its own interests by enabling the ICC to perpetuate its mandate without hindrance. For a crop of issues that impinges negatively on internal law and order would be defused.

Meanwhile, there needs to be a meeting of minds among the rest of the West to put back in place a North-South dialogue process aimed at reducing some of the economic pressures that are weighing on the South.

Since economics usually drives politics it will be in the interests of the world community to scrutinizingly re-visit North-South issues of the past and put in place economic relief packages for Southern publics that would enable them to tide over their material hardships rather than permit the latter to aggravate into social disaffection and eventually armed militancy. It is the latter juncture that paves the way for the emergence of authoritarian rulers in the South who then go on to be a blight on their publics.

Accordingly, the Southern-based global development thinking of the past that envisaged a more equitable world economic order needs to be seen as an urgent need. That is, NAM’s international development paradigms need to be resuscitated to the extent possible.

It is unlikely that rightist governments of the West, such as the current Republican administration in the US, would find these projects feasible, but democratic states of Europe, led by perhaps the UK, are likely to think otherwise. For it would not be beneficial for the democratic world to be having on their hands repressive governments in the South who would be gravitating towards the major military and economic actors of the South, such as Iran and North Korea, who tend to be in constant power struggles with the West.

However, until such time that the mentioned, pro-people initiatives are given serious thought the ICC would need to be enabled by the international community to be in place comfortably and carry on with its mandate of bringing repressive rulers to book. Besides the ICC should pave the way for the peoples of the developing world to enjoy some substantial respite from the political repression and even terror which tend to be their lot.

Meanwhile, the wars of West Asia are relentlessly aggravating the economic hardships of people everywhere, driving the point home to enlightened sections that there is no alternative to peacemaking. A challenge is to convert the US under President Trump to this line of thinking.

Features

Clear, soft and shine-free skin

Published

18 hours ago

2026/10/15

Thilina Walpola

This week, I give you five simple, time-tested homemade remedies that help reduce the appearance of blemishes, control excess shine and leave your skin feeling softer and smoother.

The Honey and Lemon Brightening Dab:

For stubborn blemish marks, this is a classic. Mix one teaspoon of pure bee honey with three to four drops of fresh lemon juice. Apply gently, only on the affected spots, and leave for 10 minutes before rinsing with lukewarm water. While honey soothes and softens, lemon helps to brighten naturally. Use twice a week in the evening.

Besan and Rose Water Oil-Control Pack:

An ideal remedy to combat shine, especially on the T-zone. Take two teaspoons of besan (gram flour) and mix with sufficient rose water to form a smooth paste. Add a pinch of turmeric for its antiseptic goodness. Apply evenly, keep for 15 minutes and wash off. It absorbs excess oil without over-drying, leaving a beautiful matte finish.

Aloe Vera and Cucumber Ice Soother:

Blend fresh aloe vera gel with the juice of a grated cucumber and freeze the mixture in an ice tray. Each morning, wrap one cube in a soft muslin cloth and gently rub over a cleansed face for 30 seconds. It calms, tightens pores and imparts a baby-soft smoothness.

Oatmeal and Curd Gentle Polish:

Roughness and old blemish marks need gentle exfoliation. Combine one tablespoon of finely powdered oatmeal with one tablespoon of fresh curd (yoghurt). Massage very gently, in circular motions, for one minute, leave for five minutes and rinse. It removes dead cells and unveils softer, clearer skin.

Multani Mitti and Green Tea Magic Mask:

Brew some green tea and allow it to cool completely. Mix one and a half teaspoons of Multani Mitti (Fuller’s Earth) with the tea water to make a fine paste. Apply for 10 to 12 minutes – do not let it dry and crack completely – and wash off. It draws out impurities, fades blemishes and bestows a fresh, shine-free glow.

A Gentle Reminder:

As with any natural remedy, always do a patch test on your inner arm first. For those with oily or combination skin, avoid heavy coconut oil application and harsh scrubbing, as they tend to aggravate shine and blemishes.

Features

Compete, shine and be discovered at WCOPA 2027

Published

18 hours ago

2026/10/15

Thilina Walpola

Dream of performing on a world stage? Well, here is your unique, golden opportunity!

The World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) — the one and only official “Talent Olympics” — is the world’s premier global platform for aspiring singers, dancers, actors, models, instrumentalists, etc., to compete, shine and be discovered!

And, yes, this world stage is open to YOU, Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka and overseas!

Held annually in glittering Las Vegas, WCOPA brings together over 70 countries, all competing for Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals, just like the traditional Olympics.

Lakisha Bernard: Will represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA 2027

Outstanding performers vie for the coveted titles of Junior and Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World, with winners and standout participants awarded over $500,000 in scholarships, cash awards and prizes to catapult their education and careers!

Sri Lanka is already making waves! At WCOPA 2026, Natharie Wickramasinghe, representing Team Sri Lanka, made the nation proud by winning a Bronze Medal in the Ethnic/Folklore Dance category!

Lakisha: Accomplished freelance Model and Fashion Design graduate

Recruitment for this prestigious competition is handled through a system of scouts and licensed National Directors — and this is where our very own Chris Rajendra, now based in Las Vegas, and National Director for Team Sri Lanka, comes into the scene.

If you are a singer, dancer, actor, model, instrumentalist — if you have talent burning inside you — contact Chris Rajendra today for registration and, who knows, you may find yourself in Las Vegas, and proudly draped in the Sri Lankan flag, at WCOPA 2027!

The contact address is: Chris Rajendra, wcopa.nationaldirector.sl@gmail.com

or chris.rajendra@gmail.com

Meanwhile, a star is born for 2027, in the form of Lakisha Bernard who is all set to represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA 2027.

Originally hailing from the sun-drenched coastal city of Colombo and now carving out her creative career in Canada, 22-year-old Lakisha is stepping into the international spotlight.

This accomplished freelance Model and Fashion Design graduate has officially been appointed as the Team Sri Lanka Promoter for Canada as she prepares to represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA in Las Vegas.

Lakisha brings a unique blend of high-fashion sensibility, captivating camera presence and expert garment design to the Team.

Having built her career, from local college shoots to high-glamour concepts, Lakisha’s inspiring journey embodies the true spirit of cultural bridge-building and creative resilience, bringing immense pride and recognition to Sri Lanka on the global stage.

WCOPA 2027 will be held at the legendary Westgate Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, from 12th to 20th July – the very same iconic arena where the late, great Elvis Presley himself performed!

Your moment is now. Your stage is Las Vegas, so hurry and contact Chris Rajendra.