斯里兰卡汉班托塔港正式移交中国

Sri Lanka has formally handed over its southern port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, which government critics have denounced as an erosion of the country’s sovereignty.

根据一份为期99年的租约，斯里兰卡已正式将其南部港口汉班托塔(Hambantota)移交中国。斯里兰卡政府的批评者谴责此举有损国家主权。

The $1.3bn port was opened seven years ago using debt from Chinese state-controlled entities. But it has since struggled under heavy losses, making it impossible for Colombo to repay its debts.

这个耗资13亿美元的港口是7年前利用中国国有控股实体的贷款建成的。但在投入运营后一直面临巨额亏损，使斯里兰卡政府不可能偿还债务。

In 2016, Sri Lankan ministers struck a deal to sell an 80 per cent stake in the port to the state-controlled China Merchants Port Holdings.

2016年，斯里兰卡的部长级官员们敲定一笔交易，将该港口80%的股权出售给中国国有控股企业招商局港口控股有限公司(China Merchants Port Holdings)。

But that agreement sparked protests from unions and opposition groups, forcing the government to renegotiate it. Under the new plan, signed in July, the Chinese company will hold a 70 per cent stake in a joint venture with the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

但该协议引发工会和反对派组织的抗议，迫使斯里兰卡政府重启谈判。根据7月签订的新计划，这家中国公司将与国有的斯里兰卡港务局(Sri Lanka Ports Authority)组建合资公司，并将持有合资公司70%的股权。

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s prime minister, welcomed the deal during the official handing over ceremony at the weekend. He said: “With this agreement we have started to pay back the loans. Hambantota will be converted to a major port in the Indian Ocean.

在周末举行的正式移交仪式上，斯里兰卡总理拉尼尔•维克拉马辛哈(Ranil Wickremesinghe)对这笔交易表示欢迎。他表示：“有了这项协议，我们已开始偿还贷款。汉班托塔港将成为印度洋上的一个重要港口。”

“There will be an economic zone and industrialisation in the area which will lead to economic development and promote tourism.”

“该地区将设立经济区，走向工业化，这将带来经济发展，并促进旅游业。”

But the renegotiated plan has failed to quell dissent within Sri Lanka. When it was first signed Namal Rajapaksa, Hambantota’s MP and son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, tweeted: “Government is playing geopolitics with national assets? #stopsellingSL”.

但是，这份经重新谈判达成的计划未能平息斯里兰卡国内的反对意见。在协议首次签订时，汉班托塔议员、前总统马欣达•拉贾帕克萨(Mahinda Rajapaksa)的儿子纳马尔•拉贾帕克萨(Namal Rajapaksa)在Twitter上发帖称：“政府正在用国家资产玩地缘政治?#别再变卖斯里兰卡”。

For Beijing, the Hambantota project is a linchpin of the “One Belt One Road” project, which aims to build a new Silk Road of trade routes between China and more than 60 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

对于中国而言，汉班托塔港项目是“一带一路”计划的关键一环，该计划的目标是在中国与亚洲、中东、非洲和欧洲60多个国家之间打造一条新的丝绸之路贸易通道。

That project is underpinned by a network of harbours across the world that have put China in a position to challenge the US as the world’s most important maritime superpower. Other similar developments in the region include the Gwadar port in Pakistan, which is the centrepiece of the $55bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

该项目的基础是世界各地的港口网络，让中国有能力挑战美国作为世界最重要海洋超级大国的地位。在印度洋地区，其他类似项目包括巴基斯坦的瓜达尔港，该港是550亿美元的“中巴经济走廊”(China-Pakistan Economic Corridor)的核心。

But some have accused Beijing of using projects such as this to increase its regional political power, noting the length of the lease agreed by Sri Lanka is the same as that which gave Britain control over Hong Kong in the 19th century.

但有些人指责北京方面利用此类项目来增加它在该地区的政治影响力，并指出斯里兰卡同意的租约期限与19世纪中国把香港的控制权交给英国的租约一样。

Constantino Xavier, a fellow at foreign policy think-tank Carnegie, said: “This is part of a larger modus operandi by China in the region.

外交政策智库卡内基(Carnegie)研究员康斯坦丁诺•泽维尔(Constantino Xavier)表示：“这是中国在该地区整体操作手法的一部分。”

“Beijing typically finds a local partner, makes that local partner accept investment plans that are detrimental to their country in the long term, and then uses the debts to either acquire the project altogether or to acquire political leverage in that country.”

“北京方面通常会在当地找一个合作伙伴，让当地合作伙伴接受长期而言不利于其国家的投资计划，然后利用债务要么收购整个项目，要么在该国获得政治影响力。”

New Delhi has become so concerned about Beijing’s plans at Hambantota that it has entered talks with Sri Lanka to operate an airport nearby.

新德里对北京在汉班托塔的计划如此关注，以至于它已经就在汉班托塔附近运营一个机场的事宜与斯里兰卡展开谈判。

In recent months, however, there have been signs that China’s partners are starting to become wary over the terms being dictated to build projects under the One Road banner.

然而，最近几个月有迹象表明，中国的合作伙伴们开始对硬塞给自己的“一带一路”建设项目条款变得谨慎起来。

Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar have all recently cancelled or sidelined major hydroelectricity projects planned by Chinese companies. The projects would have been worth a total of $20bn.

巴基斯坦、尼泊尔和缅甸最近都取消或搁置了中国公司计划建设的大型水电项目。这些项目总共价值200亿美元。