China's control over Sri Lankan infrastructure reignites fears

First foreign company to own highway highlights rising Chinese influence

The Colombo Port City project in November 2018: China Harbor Engineering Company, the developer, recently won a new highway project that it will own and operate for 18 years. © Getty Images

MUNZA MUSHTAQ, Contributing Writer

June 30, 2021 18:10 JST

COLOMBO -- China's de facto control of high-profile Sri Lankan infrastructure projects has renewed fears that the island nation may soon become a Chinese colony.

As China steadily expands its footprint across the island, China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC), a subsidiary of state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), won a new development project last month when the government approved CHEC's proposal for a 17-km elevated highway on the outskirts of Colombo.