This is what China says about Indian Military intervention in Maldives

This is what China says about Indian Military intervention in Maldives

China on Wednesday opposed any external intervention to resolve the political crisis in the Maldives, hours after former president Mohamed Nasheed urged India to use its military to end the turmoil in the island nation.

When asked to comment on Nasheed’s call to India, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, “The international community should play a constructive role on the basis of respecting the Maldives sovereignty instead of taking measures that could complicate the current situation.”

Nasheed, who is currently in exile in Sri Lanka, has yesterday tweeted that India should send an envoy, backed by its military, to release judges and leaders of political parties detained by President Abdulla Yameen. Asked how the situation could resolved internally when Yameen has arrested the Supreme Court judges as well as former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Geng said China’s stand is that relevant parties should find a solution internally.

“I made myself clear. We hope relevant parties in the Maldives can properly resolve the issue through consultation and restore national stability and social order as soon as possible. We believe they (have) wisdom and capability to address the situation independently,” he said without mentioning India. Geng skirted a question whether China is also asking Yameen to hold talks with political parties to resolve the crisis.

He also sought to refute allegations by the Maldives opposition parties that China is backing Yameen because he has approved several Chinese projects and signed the controversial Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China during his visit to Beijing in December.

“China maintains friendly cooperation with the Maldives including the FTA which serves the common interests of the two countries. The facts have proven that after signing of the FTA cooperation has benefited the two peoples,” Geng said.

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“The current situation in Maldives is its internal affairs. China follows the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of others,” he said. Opposition party leaders in the Maldives allege that China is tacitly backing Yameen, which emboldened him to resort to unconstitutional actions like arresting Supreme Court judges.

China, which has huge investments in the Maldives, however has asked thousands of its nationals to cancel their holiday travel plans for this month’s week-long Chinese New Year Holiday which begins on February 15. China views the Maldives as key to its Maritime Silk Road project in the Indian Ocean as it has already acquired Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The Chinese official media which was silent since the crisis broke out in Maldives last week came out today in support of Yameen’s regime.