"The allegation that ‘China has grabbed the land of Maldives’ is pure slander"

The allegation that ‘China has grabbed the land of Maldives’ is pure slander and has no basis at all, stated the Chinese Ambassador to Maldives Wang Lixin.

In an interview with a local media, Ambassador Lixin stated that the ownership of the land of all the infrastructure projects implemented by the Chinese enterprises belongs to Maldives.

The Chinese Ambassador highlighted that the government of China has been providing financial support to the Maldives at the request of the Maldivian government, to develop the Maldivian economy and the livelihood of the Maldivians. She said that China always respects the wishes of Maldives and accommodates the demands of Maldives when carrying out financial cooperation.

The Chinese Ambassador to Maldives noted that financial cooperation between the two sides is the result of friendly consultation and that it is neither decided by one side alone nor imposed by one side on the other.

Speaking about the talks of ‘debt trap’ set by China, the Ambassador stated that it is groundless and a distortion of China's foreign cooperation policy, which is aimed at destroying the mutually-beneficial cooperation between China and other developing countries. She stated that this accusation brings shame on the Belt and Road Initiative of China.

Ambassador Lixin highlighted that developing countries have benefited a lot from the mutually-beneficial cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, as Maldives does with its cooperation with China.

She stated that she has high hopes that the Maldivian people can see through the vicious intention of the ‘debt trap’ narrative.

Ambassador Lixin stated that China always takes into full consideration the debt situation and repayment ability of Maldives and follows the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. As such, she reiterated that the Chinese side attaches great importance to the debt sustainability of the Maldives and that they are one of the few countries willing to provide bilateral financing assistance to Maldives.

Stating that China has never pressed the repayment of the debt, the Ambassador highlighted that the Chinese government encourages Chinese financial institutions to carry out friendly consultations with Maldives on the repayment arrangements of sovereignty and sovereignty-guaranteed credit based on market principles.

China has made appropriate debt suspension arrangement for Maldives under the G20 framework, for which the Maldivian government is grateful for, stated the Ambassador.