Highlights
- Dragon first gave poisonous organic manure to Sri Lanka and now sued him
- Chinese company initiates international arbitration process against Sri Lanka in Singapore
- Chinese company Sivin Biotech made this case for not having a ‘reasonable agreement’ with Sri Lanka
The dragon has given a big blow to Sri Lanka, which is increasing its friendship with China. Dragon first gave poisonous organic manure to Sri Lanka and when it refused to take it, the Chinese company has now sued Colombo. The Chinese company has initiated an international arbitration process against Sri Lanka. Chinese company Sivin Biotech has filed this case after there was no ‘reasonable agreement’ with Sri Lanka to resolve the issue of fertilizers. The suing of a Chinese company against Sri Lanka is considered a rare event in itself.
This Chinese ship, which reached Sri Lanka from China with about 20 thousand tons of manure, is returning to China if there is no acceptable agreement. China had tried a lot to resolve this dispute. He even tried to intimidate Sri Lanka but the Rajapaksa government stuck to its decision. The ship has now reached Singapore and the company has started the international arbitration process there. Through this, China wants to resolve the growing dispute with Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka did a deal worth Rs 3700 crore
A company official said that a notice has been issued to Sri Lanka in this regard and the process of arbitration has been started. Let us inform that these days there is a diplomatic tussle between Sri Lanka and China regarding organic fertilizers. Sri Lanka had refused to accept the first consignment of 20,000 tonnes of organic manure from China, citing poor quality. After this, China got angry and blacklisted a bank in Sri Lanka. A group of Sri Lankan scientists is also opposing this fertilizer from China.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government banned the use of chemical fertilizers in an effort to turn Sri Lanka into the world’s first completely organic farming country. Soon after, the Sri Lankan government had signed an agreement with China’s organic fertilizer manufacturer Qingdao Siwin Bio-Tech Group to buy 99000 tonnes of organic fertilizer for about Rs 3700 crore. Qigdao Siwin Bio-Tech Group is specialized in manufacturing seaweed based compost.
Sri Lanka denies saying that the compost is bacterial
After which a ship named Hippo Spirit from China reached Sri Lanka in September carrying 20,000 tonnes of organic manure. The Sri Lankan government agency, the National Plant Quarantine Service, refused to accept the shipment, saying that a sample of the manure contained harmful bacteria. These can damage crops grown in the ground in Sri Lanka such as potatoes and carrots.
China provoked by stopping payment of poisonous fertilizers
Dr Ajantha de Silva, director general of Sri Lanka’s Department of Agriculture, said testing of manure samples showed that the fertilizer was not sterile, reports the BBC. Since the shipment was not allowed to land in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan state-run fertilizer company received a court order to restrain it from paying $9 million for the consignment through the state-owned People’s Bank.
China blacklists Sri Lanka’s state-run bank
China was so chilled by this decision that the Chinese embassy in Colombo blacklisted the bank for non-payment. In late October, the official Twitter handle of the Chinese embassy posted a timeline of events announcing the blacklisting of the state-run Sri Lankan bank. However, the embassy did not provide any information about the quality of the compost and the terms of the contract.
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