China’s Military Foreign Policy toward Sri Lanka (2005-2019)

Abstract

Military foreign policy is an important component of China’s foreign policy toward Sri Lanka. Since China and Sri Lanka announced to establish “all-round cooperative partnership” in 2005, China has pushed forward its closer relations with Sri Lanka through its shifting military foreign policy. In this period, China’s “national defense policy of active defense” in the new era outlines the principle for China’s military foreign policy toward Sri Lanka. China’s military foreign policy toward Sri Lanka aims at three major objectives: to raise China’s military soft power in Sri Lanka, to make preliminary prepare for potential further development of Sri Lanka to be an important oversea military of China, and to develop Sri Lanka into a stable and growing consumer of China’s arms trade. In diplomatic practice, China has depended on military exchange, military trade and military assistance to further develop the China-Sri Lanka military diplomatic relations in this period. On the whole, China has carried out a friendly and pushy military foreign policy to make a significant contribution for the all-round and deep development and enhancement of the China-Sri Lanka relations in this period.