Why Yuan Wang 5 ship’s port of call so significant?

Kathirtharsini Parameswaran
10 Min Read

Despite security concerns voiced by Sri Lanka’s neighbour India and the United States, the Chinese survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 docked at Chinese-managed Hambantota Port on August 16. According to foreign security analysts, Yuan Wang 5 is one of China’s newest generation space tracking ships, designed to track satellites, spacecraft and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

While Sri Lanka at present experiences the worst ever economic crisis in its post-independence history, several powerful nations are attempting to establish their influence there. India came to rescue Sri Lanka during the most part this year by way of food supplies, fuel, medicine and more importantly offered to assist the island nation with billion dollar worth credit line to import fuel and essentials when the country was strangled by dollar crunch. However, the Indian government watches the present state of affairs with great concern that Sri Lanka would melt under China’s pressure and allow China to establish a military base at the Hambantota port, which is close to the primary maritime routes between Asia and Europe.

A Chinese commercial entity was legally given the authority to control Sri Lanka’s commercial operations at the port. Owing to the Sri Lankan government’s inability to repay the colossal debt borrowed from China, the strategically important Hambantota Port was given to China Merchants Port Holdings (CM Port) on a 99-year lease with a payment of US$1.12 billion.

The deal between CM Port and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), in which CM Port would own an overall stake of 80% and the SLPA the remaining 20%, was seen as unfavourable to Sri Lanka by some political analysts. Since then, Sri Lanka has been described as a victim of China’s Belt and Road Initiative’s debt-trap diplomacy.

Previously, executive powers imply about renegotiating with China, these comments may be a ploy to promote the regional standard of the “Neighbourhood First” strategy. For instance, in 2005 and 2015, Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena used a similar strategy to symmetrize the regional powerhouses to get funding for infrastructure projects. However, compared to China, India is not currently in a secure financial position to set foot in the Sri Lankan markets. But, yet, their support is considered immensely vital.

The Chinese vessel Yuan Wang 5 has been given permission by the Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry to dock at Hambantota Port from August 16 to 22, according to AFP.

 “I acquired the diplomatic permission today. To assure port logistics, we will collaborate with the local representative sent by the ship “Nirmal P. Silva, Sri Lanka’s harbour master, said while speaking to AFP.

Claims that Sri Lanka was under immense pressure from India to turn the ship away were denied. “We categorically disagree with the “insinuation” and related comments on India. Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation with complete independence, “Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry, stated.

One widely used definition of sovereignty is, that it refers to a political actor or governing body’s total authority over itself, free from interference and limitations from other entities or sources. This definition is both general and well-known. When referring to states specifically, sovereignty has four components. That includes territorial rights and authority, population responsibility and accountability, general and particular powers, and acceptance by other sovereign governments.

The law of the sea based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), sovereignty relates to a state’s exclusive legal control over its waters, notably its territorial maritime boundaries and internal waterways. These waters fundamentally fall under the state’s territorial authority. According to the definition given above, saying that a state has sovereignty over an area effectively means that no other greater rights or power exist. No authority can be greater than the state, since the state has complete ownership and authority of that particular territory.

On the contrary, passage of a foreign ship shall be considered to be prejudicial to peace, good order or security of the coastal State, if in the territorial maritime boundaries it engages carrying out research or survey activities etc. in that context, it will not be considered an innocent or bona fide passage, and thus, allowing it to enter the port is an absolute threat to the sovereignty of any particular nation. Here, though the port was given on lease, which doesn’t mean that Sri Lanka had conceded its sovereign rights it has been enjoying in the territory. In spite of all these factors, one wonders as to how the Chinese ship had got the permission from the port authority to enter the port.  These kinds of technologically advanced ships are unfamiliar and new to the ports authority paradigm. In order to avoid crossing territorial boundaries, an advanced espionage marine craft typically drops anchor in the international waters (or at the very least, outside a country’s territorial waters). From there, it would monitor radio and radar frequencies, air and sea traffic, and relentlessly attempt to intercept and decrypt encrypted radio and phone communications using its electronic equipment. Quite often, passive devices such as radio receivers or passive sonar are utilised for this. However, sometimes active measures like radar or sonar may also be employed to track the movement of troops, ships, vehicles or missiles. However, doing so might betray the ship’s mission to others.

The outermost permanent harbour works, which are an essential component of the harbour procedure, are regarded as constituting part of the coast for the purposes of defining the territorial sea. Artificial islands and offshore installations are not to be regarded as permanent harbour improvements. As stated in UNCLOS, the state has entire right to manage its affairs and it is an integral aspect of its sovereignty.

The important aspect here to remember is, that there is nothing fundamentally unlawful with multi-national corporations hold the power to define the agenda. The nation/state is accountable to all people, not only just the wealthy and powerful, and because capitalism operates on the profit motive to the exclusion of all other considerations, businesses cannot be permitted to dictate terms of political and economic conversation. It should be noted that the national governments exist for the welfare of their populace, not just for financial gain. The corporate world reduces everything to money and profits by usurping the authority of the nation/state, which is detrimental to the well-being of the populace. According to the constitution of Sri Lanka, sovereignty is vested with the people, so the unstable situation and undue influence must be dealt with maximum care.

Global corporations towards economic benefits have become more powerful in recent decades, and while this development has helped the world economically thrive, it has also increased inequality and heightened racial and social conflicts between the powerful and the powerless nations.  Therefore, the needs to be moderation in how transnational corporations are permitted to usurp the authority of the national governments and how national sovereignty is lost to them.

By Kathirtharsini Parameswaran

Kathirtharsini Parameswaran, pursuing a Master of International Law from the Department of Legal Studies, South Asian University in New Delhi, India.  She holds LLB (Hons) from University of Jaffna Sri Lanka. Kathirtharsini has been a researcher and mooter in Prestigious moot courts such as Jessup and Hendry Dunant, mainly focused on International Human Rights law, International Criminal Law and Humanitarian law. She is currently working as a researcher in Child Protection Force (a civil society organisation based in Sri Lanka). She has a significant interest in International Sea law and did her thesis based on the ship registration standards.

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