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BEIJING (Reuters): China on Tuesday called for “continuity and stability” in the Maldives after Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the leader of an opposition that has vowed to review Chinese projects, defeated incumbent president Abdulla Yameen in a weekend election.
China and India are going head-to-head for influence in the Indian Ocean nation, a string of palm-fringed islands and atolls 325 miles (523 km) southwest of India’s southern tip.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang congratulated Solih, saying China respected the Maldivian people’s choice and wanted to consolidate their traditional friendship. “China has always encouraged Chinese companies to invest in and operate in the Maldives in accordance with market principles, to play a positive role in the Maldives’ socio-economic development,” Geng told a daily news briefing.
He was responding to a query whether China was concerned the new president could seek to renegotiate the two countries’ free trade deal.
Before the election, the Maldives opposition said it would review China’s investments in its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, partly out of concern over terms, as experts have warned that the archipelago risked falling into a debt trap.
China has part-funded and built an extension to the Maldives’ international airport, as well as a bridge linking it to the capital, Male.
Both countries had benefited from cooperation within the Belt and Road framework, Geng added.
“We hope that the Maldives side can preserve continuity and stability of the relevant policies, and create good operating conditions for Chinese companies working there.”
China is willing to work with the Maldives to fully put into practice the free trade agreement to continue expanding investment and trade cooperation, he added, without elaborating.
Yameen, who had drawn the Maldives closer to China since 2013 in a Beijing-backed infrastructure boom, conceded defeat after election officials said Solih, who wants to normalise ties with traditional ally India, had won.
AFP: The defeated strongman of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, is welcome in neighbouring Sri Lanka, Colombo said Tuesday, two days after his surprise defeat in presidential elections.
Sri Lanka has long been a haven for dissidents from the nearby Maldives over years of political upheaval, including for hundreds of opponents of Yameen since he became president in 2013.
In a phone call on Monday, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe “informed Mr. Yameen that he is welcome in Colombo at any time,” the premier’s office said.
Wickremesinghe made the call after hosting Yameen’s arch rival and former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed at a luncheon meeting on Monday.
Nasheed, the atoll nation’s first democratically elected leader, was sentenced to 13 years in jail after narrowly losing the 2013 elections to Yameen.
He fled to London where he sought refuge and now lives in Sri Lanka.
Sunday’s election was held with all key opposition leaders behind bars or in exile, leaving the little-known Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to challenge Yameen.
In a major upset, Solih won with 58% of the vote.
Solih’s victory was greeted warmly by India as Yameen had drifted closer to China, borrowing heavily from New Delhi’s regional rival to invest in infrastructure.
Declaring victory, Solih demanded Yameen immediately release all political prisoners in the country. A Maldivian court freed five of them on Monday night.
Many more are still in jail, including Yameen’s estranged half-brother and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, 80, who is expected to be released shortly.
Under intense international pressure, Yameen conceded defeat and pledged to allow a peaceful transition when he formally steps down on 17 November.
Rights group Amnesty International called Tuesday on Solih to “break with the repression and human rights violations of the past and chart a fresh course where human rights are at the heart” of government policy.
The European Union, which had earlier threatened sanctions, said Monday that it would “continue to closely review the situation”.
