Despite India-Sri Lanka talks, Chinese Spy vessel Yuan Wang 5 to arrive at Hambantota port

Despite India's objection over military and security concerns, neighbouring Sri Lanka on Saturday granted approval to the Chinese spy ship Yuan Wang-5 to dock at the Beijing-owned southern Hambantota Port on August 16. The Chinese spy vessel's scheduled arrival was deferred from August 11. It was previously dated to stay at the port until August 17 for replenishment purposes including refuelling. Sri Lankan government had requested the Chinese Embassy in Colombo to defer the ship’s transit “in the light of the need for further consultations" with India. 

New Delhi had raised concerns with Sri Lanka about dual-purpose Chinese vessels capable of surveillance that could jeopardize the security of India's southern maritime ports. India’s nuclear power stations at Kalpakkam and Koodankulam as well as six ports in southern India could easily come on the radar of the giant space-satellite tracker spy ship Yuan Wang 5. 

India had expressed worry that the Chinese spy vessel docked at Hambantota can map the entire ocean bed critical to anti-submarine operations of the Chinese Navy. The 400-strong crew of the Yuan Wang 5 from PLA's Strategic Support Force conducts the Chinese military's “research” work including surveillance and tracking business with dish antennae and high-tech banks of lasers and radars.

US DoD has warned that Beijing has been vouching to expand its military footprint in the Indian Ocean and other countries— including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan. But the key focus areas of PLA planning are along the SLOCs from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.

When not anchored, dual spy vessel Yuan Wang sails three rounds several times a day just over 700 miles southeast of Sri Lanka mapping the entire Indian Ocean. 

Ambition of military base, logistics facility expansion; resolving Malacca dilemma

India has been expressing scepticism about the Chinese vessel's sail, given that Beijing has been making attempts of exercising regional influence through military dominance and coercion in the Indian Ocean. And despite lengthy discussions, Colombo has given the Chinese dual-use spy ship a green light to sail into its territorial waters. New Delhi is yet to issue any official response to the Sri Lankan government allowing the transit to the Chinese spy ship, but it is to be noted that the leased port is now under the control of Beijing. 

In 2021, Sri Lankan Parliament passed legislation ‘Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill' by a majority vote 148-59 to attract USD 15 Billion investment towards its infrastructure. Sri Lanka's opposition parties had expressed worry about the ruling Rajapaksa brothers' Beijing-leaning policies that later turned the island nation into a Chinese colony. Colombo had to lease Hambantota port to Beijing's Merchants Port Holdings Co. for 99 years as a part of the USD 1.2 Bn debt swap with the PRC.

Hambantota port solves Beijing's Malacca Strait dilemma, as it is located near the strategic maritime route between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, one of the main shipping channels between the Indian and Pacific oceans, and most important shipping lanes in the world.

The Strait of Malacca is the shortest sea route between India and China where an estimated 40 per cent of global trade vessels transit including  Beijing's major energy imports. India's strategic position at the mouth of Malacca, Lombok and Sunda straits and its ability to choke the traffic had long perturbed China. The latter under its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) initiative has been exploring alternative shipping routes. 

Hambantota port gives PRC strategic maritime hold in the eastern Indian Ocean, and it has long been trying to build a military base and logistics facility. While Sri Lanka argued that the leased port would not be used for military purposes, in 2014, China sailed its submarine Changzheng 2 and warship Chang Xing Dao into Colombo's port, shocking the Indian authorities. 

Beijing warns India not to obstruct its 'legitimate maritime activities'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin took an assertive stance, saying that it is “completely unjustified for certain countries to cite the so-called ‘security concerns’ to pressure Sri Lanka.”

“As Sri Lanka grapples with economic and political difficulties, to grossly interfere in Sri Lanka’s normal exchange and cooperation with other countries is to exploit its vulnerability, which is morally irresponsible and against the basic norms governing international relations," Wenbin stressed. 

“We urge the relevant parties to see China’s marine scientific research activities in a rational light and stop disrupting normal exchange and cooperation between China and Sri Lanka,” he added.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said at a presser that India is “aware of reports of a proposed visit by this vessel at Hambantota port, in August.” He had noted that the government has been "carefully monitoring any development having a bearing on India’s security and economic interests and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them,” and that this “should be a clear message.” Without naming India, Beijing issued a response saying that the relevant parties must refrain from obstructing China's “legitimate maritime activities.”

New Delhi had been against China's dual-use spy vessel Yuan Wang 5's sailing towards the Indian Ocean into the Sri Lankan waters, the reason being that China's research and survey war vessel used for space and satellite tracking can also be used for intercontinental ballistic missile launches. It has been sailing towards Sri Lanka at an estimated 19 knots or approximately 35 kilometres per hour to dock at its port. During its stay, Yuan Wang 5 plans to “conduct space tracking, satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September". 

India has gotten wary of the Chinese spy ship's activity as it has a range of more than 750 km that can bring on its radar India's largest nuclear power plants situated in Kalapakkam and Koodankulam, Tamil Nadu. The vessel could also covertly conduct surveillance of India's key southern maritime ports and vital installations located in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Sri Lanka's cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena gave assurances at a presser, saying that the ship was conducting a routine transit for refuelling and would pose no safety threats.