China’s influence on the Maldives is continually growing and may become adverse, said former MP Mohamed Shifaz.

Shifaz, who is the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s president, said this explicitly in regards to the government’s intention to sign a free trade agreement with China.

At an opposition rally held on Sunday night, Shifaz said that the free trade agreement would likely lead to foreign businesses dominating Maldives’ domestic markets.

Shifaz said that the agreement is a conscious decision to ‘sell’ Maldives out to the ‘highest bidder’.

His comments echo that of several local actors in the economy and the Maldives Trade Union, who all said that the agreement would be detrimental to smaller businesses in the country.

The Maldives Trade Union had likened the agreement to one made with Indian merchansts, ‘Vora traders’, in the 1970s.

The government proposed the agreement in parliament last week and was passed without involvement from the opposition parties.