Sri Lanka's second-largest airport is designed to handle a million passengers per year. It currently receives about a dozen passengers per day. It has annual revenues of roughly $300,000, but now it must repay China $23.6 million a year for the next eight years. To relieve its debt crisis, the Sri Lankan govt agreed to give China control of a deepwater port in exchange for writing off $1.1 billion of the island’s debt.
“We always thought China’s investments would help our economy. But now there’s a sense that we’ve been maneuvered into selling some of the family jewels.” ..This will be the story of OBOR down the road.
NYTimes: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence.
Forbes: China's Ghost Town Diplomacy: The Story Behind The World's Emptiest International Airport
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