Beijing: The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the main opposition party in Maldives, has raised alarms over a Chinese company’s involvement in a large-scale agriculture project on Uthuru Thila Falhu island, suspecting it to be a cover for Chinese military activities. Fayyaz Ismail, the Chairperson of MDP, emphasized the geopolitical implications of the situation.
“They’re not coming to plant trees. There’s a strong MNDF [Maldives National Defense Force] harbor in front of there. They’re coming in front to do military work of a big country far from here,” Fayyaz stated, as reported by Male-based news organization Adhadhu.
Fayyaz’s concerns emerge as Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu is actively working to diminish Indian presence in the country. He recently declared that no Indian troops would remain in Maldives, not even those in civilian attire. Since assuming office in November of the previous year, Muizzu has made several decisions against India, thereby allowing China greater influence in the Indian Ocean Region.
Following his inaugural visit to China in January, Muizzu permitted a Chinese research vessel to dock at Male. Concerns arose that the vessel might be mapping the Indian Ocean seabed, a strategic area where China and India are vying for dominance.
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On Tuesday, the opposition leader disclosed that the Chinese research vessel had indeed been mapping the underwater terrain in Maldivian territorial waters for the past few months. The MDP chairman accused the Muizzu administration of inviting distant superpower China into the region, potentially destabilizing the peace and security of the Indian Ocean.
On January 24, Indian geostrategist Brahma Chellaney remarked that China is aggressively mapping the Indian Ocean bed and gathering seismic and bathymetric data to enhance submarine operations in India’s maritime vicinity. “And the Maldives, under its new Islamist-leaning, pro-China president, is becoming an enabler.”
Recently, on March 28, the Maldives Industrial Development Free Zone (MIDF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China’s Harbor Engineering Company to undertake a large-scale agriculture project post land reclamation in Uthuru Thila Falhu – an atoll situated on the northern side, close to India.
According to the MoU, MIDF will collaborate with China Harbor Engineering to establish an Agricultural Economic Zone (AEZ) in the Maldives. However, the opposition leader alleged that China Harbor Engineering, instead of engaging in agricultural activities, plans to conduct military operations.
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Notably, China Harbor Engineering, the world’s second-largest company for land reclamation, was responsible for developing Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port, which was subsequently taken over by Beijing due to Colombo’s inability to repay its debts.
In January 2018, Bangladesh blacklisted the Chinese firm on charges of attempting to bribe a senior government official, halting its operations in the country.
Adhadhu revealed that China Harbor Engineering operates under a special commission directly supervised by the Chinese government’s State Council. The company has been awarded several military projects and is suspected to have direct links with the Chinese army. In 2020, the US government reportedly sanctioned the company for its land reclamation projects aimed at creating islands for military purposes in the South China Sea.
