Srilanka, Chinese Industrial zone: Most often you have heard of the special economic zone in a country, but it is less to hear Chinese industrial zone in another country not in china. There was violence in Srilanka over ceremony for the Chinese industrial zone near the port city of Hambantota.

The event took place when the supporter of the government and the villagers against the take over for the industrial zone, where china would be having a major chunk of the area. The Sri Lankan government hopes to attract billions of dollars from the Chinese Investment.

As per the reports the government supporter attacked the protesters who were led by the opposition and the Buddhist monks in Ambalantota, 22 KM from Hambantota. The protesters were pelting stones.

The Sri Lanka police fired teargas to disperse thousands of people, who were protesting the launch Saturday event with the Chinese investment.

As per the authorities, about 25 people were hurt in the irregular attack, along with 12 police. But it is still not much clear that how many people got hurt.

The Srilankan Government has signed an agreement for a 99-year lease of the Hambantota port with a company in which China will have major 80 per cent ownership.

The zone in Hambantota is 240 KM south of Colombo and it will generate thousands of jobs and bring in about $5 billion in Chinese investment, as per Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. These Chinese companies will be invited to set up factories.

But the residents and monks are afraid they will lose their land to the project, which is situated adjacent to a loss-making $1.4 billion harbor, they demand their residential and farmlands spared.

When you give away such a vast area of land, you can't stop the area from becoming a Chinese colony, said Sri Lankan MP D V Chanaka who was also protesting against the Chinese invasion

Government Says

However the government says, the residents will not lose any land to the new industrial zone, saying 80 percent of the area allocated for the project is state-owned and the remainder will be bought from private owners.

There will be about $5 billion of Chinese investments in this Chinese industrial zone more the n 100,000 jobs would be created, said ambassador Yi.

The Hambantota port has already become a huge loss-maker for the Srilankan government as the port here is struggling to attract ships. Most of the development done in Hambantota port is form the Chinese money. The creation of the Chinese industrial zone was aimed at making the debt-burdened Hambantota port more viable. Currently Srilanka owes to china around $8 billion.

China in the mean time is taking many of infrastructure and other projects around the neighboring county India, so that it can have more power in the area. There is millions of investment happening around the countries surrounding India.

About The Author

Chetan Sharma is an Indian fact-checker and news writer, writing news for Ayupp since 2014.

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