Military denies building Chinese Naval Base

The military yesterday denied news reports that the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Navy were to build a naval base in Hambantota.

“Some unheard website has published a false report that China is going to build a Naval Base in Hambantota. There is no truth about it and it appears that someone’s imaginations are running wild and trying to give life to this baseless story,” military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasuriya told the Daily Mirror.

“There are no plans to establish any foreign naval bases in the Sri Lanka under any circumstance,” he said.

He also said that currently a joint military exercise between the Sri Lankan Army and Indian Army was underway in the Hambantota and Moneragala districts.

A news agency named “The Namibian” yesterday reported quoting Chinese media that the Chinese People's Liberation Army-Navy were to build 18 naval bases in various regions: Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar in the northern Indian Ocean; Djibouti, Yemen, Oman, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique in the western Indian Ocean; and Seychelles and Madagascar in the central South Indian Ocean.

Quote: Some unheard website has published a false report that China is going to build a Naval Base in Hambantota. There is no truth about it and it appears that someone’s imaginations are running wild and trying to give life to this baseless story.