China-Maldives free trade agreement 'down to the wire'

Former President Mohamed Nasheed met with China’s ambassador to Maldives, Zhang Lizhong, on Wednesday morning.

The meeting took place at the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s head office. MDP’s chair, Hassan Latheef joined Nasheed at the meeting.

In a tweet posted after, the party tweeted that both parties had “discussed areas of mutual interest and cooperation” at the meeting.

While Maldives and China had signed a free trade agreement in December 2017 during former President Abdulla Yameen’s term, Nasheed has since revealed that the new administration is considering pulling out of the agreement.

In an interview to BBC earlier this week, the former president and a top leader of the ruling coalition said that the free trade agreement “is very one-sided”.

Further noting that “the numbers do not match”, Nasheed revealed that parliament will not be approving the law required “for the trade deal to come into force”.

Responding to a question regarding this, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang claimed that the agreement “is based on equal-footed and friendly consultations”.

“It is to seek mutual benefit and win-win results. The sooner it gets implemented, the sooner the two sides could reap the benefits. We believe the Maldivian government will make the right choice,” he added.

While it is reported that the Maldives’ new government intends to review and audit many Chinese projects, Shuang emphasized that “China's determination to deepen practical cooperation and maintain a sound development momentum of China-Maldives ties is consistent and clear”.

Yameen had given top priority to China throughout his term, alienating neighboring India.

Due to the worsening relations between Maldives and India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had refused to visit the country during Yameen’s tenure and Maldives remained the only South Asian nation he had not visited until November 17.

Modi’s maiden voyage to the Maldives was a one-day visit, to attend President Solih’s swearing-in ceremony.