Dead Bat Found in Walmart Salad and 6 Other Scary Discoveries That Prompted Recent Food Recalls

There's no telling what might pop up in your lunch.

By Robin Scher / AlterNet

May 16, 2017

Ever suffered from a foodborne illness? Fevered sweats, paralyzing stomach cramps, nausea, and a strong aversion to the smell, taste and general presence of the offending food for years to come are just a few of the symptoms which demarcate that special circle of hell reserved for this form of malady. If you’ve been spared such a fate, consider yourself one of the lucky few.

Statistically, one in six Americans—about 48 million people—are affected by foodborne illness every year. This number, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, translates to a total of 128,000 hospitalizations and over 3,000 annual deaths. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, 420,000 people die from eating contaminated food. 

While these numbers tend to vary, the causes do not. In general, foodborne illness comes from harmful bacteria, toxins or foreign substances that find their way into food. The main reasons for this, as explained on Healthline.com, can generally be attributed to one of four main factors:

• improper food handling
• unsafe practices on farms
• contamination during manufacturing or distributing
• contamination in stores

Some might recall the infamous E. coli outbreak that took place at Chipotle Mexican Grill outlets across the Pacific Northwest. Nearly two-dozen people were sickened, resulting in the chain shuttering 43 of its locations. This is just one of many examples of the type of outbreaks that take place throughout the U.S. on a regular basis. For the morbidly curious, here are the causes of seven recent cases of food recalls that have taken place across the land.

1. Salmonella

Who doesn’t like a quick and convenient home-cooked meal from Banquet? Here’s who: the poor souls who ended up sick after eating the brownie mix dessert included in the brand’s breaded chicken nugget meals. The story goes that Conagra Brands Inc., the company that produces this frozen meal, was informed by a supplier that one of the ingredients used to produce its dessert mix may have been contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria that causes not only food sickness, but also typhoid fever. The company has since alerted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), who went on to issue a national warning about the problem, which has affected an estimated 110,817 pounds of frozen meals.

You may have dodged this bullet, but chances are you’ve encountered Salmonella at some stage. People infected with Salmonella tend to develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection, subsequently suffering for 4 to 7 days. The CDC estimates that Salmonella accounts for up to one million foodborne illnesses in the U.S. every year. While the majority of these patients remain at home, Salmonella poisoning ends up putting 19,000 people a year in the hospital—and in the most extreme cases, leads to an average of 380 deaths, according to CDC counts.

2. Clostridium botulinum

The FDA has announced the recall of the Lemongrass and Shrimp Satay sauces produced by TP Food Processing, Inc. of Westminster, Calif. The acidified sauces, which come in 9-ounce hexagon glass jars with red lids, were recalled after the company discovered a batch had not been “properly produced,” which made them “susceptible to contamination with Clostridium botulinum," bacterium that can produce the neurotoxin botulinum, the most powerful known toxin. At present there have been no reported cases of illness.

Had there been any cases of outbreak, the consequences would be severe. Botulism, the rare paralytic illness caused by this bacteria, leads to blurred vision and muscle paralysis. The last reported outbreak of botulism in nearly 40 years took place in 2015 in Fairfield County, Ohio due to some improperly home-canned potatoes used to make salad for a church potluck.

3. Listeria

Around 8,822 pounds of ready-to-eat ham products was recently recalled by Memphis, Tennessee's Fineberg Packing Co., Inc. The offending meat—hickory smoked and BBQ ham—was taken off the shelves of retail outlets in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Wisconsin following the discovery that it may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a deadly bacteria that is particularly nasty, as it's able to survive without oxygen.

Listeria infections generally tend to affect people with weakened immune systems, such as young children and the elderly. It can also affect healthy individuals in the short-term, leading to fevers, headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. In the case of pregnant women, Listeria infection can also lead to miscarriage. On average, around 1,600 people come down with the illness from this bacteria, known as listeriosis, each year, with around 260 deaths.

4. A magnet

Yep, you read that right. After a metal magnet was found in the “beef trim source product” of some Uncle John’s Pride processed sausages, the Tampa-based company was forced to recall 139,909 pounds of its ready-to-eat smoked meat and poultry sausages from retail locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, according to FSIS. The contamination remains an isolated incident.

5. Golf balls

If there’s one hole you don’t ever want to land a golf ball in, it’s your mouth. McCain Foods USA recently learned that the hard way when it had to recall its frozen hash browns after receiving complaints that the product was contaminated with “extraneous golf ball materials.” In a recall notice issued through the Food and Drug Administration, McCain explained that despite its “stringent supply standards [the golf balls] may have been inadvertently harvested with potatoes used to make this product." The offending hash browns were stocked at Marianos, Metro Market and Pick ‘n Save supermarkets in Illinois and Wisconsin.

6. Rubber and plastic

The Miami Herald recently reported the recall of 35,168 pounds of Jose Ole Taquitos Beef Carne De Res that contained some “wayward rubber.” The offending product, produced by Ajinomoto Windsor, was recalled after two customers found “rubber and white plastic from processing equipment” that may have gotten caught up in the beef during production. The 60-ounce bags containing the taquitos were recalled from shops stocking the product in Florida, California, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming.

7. Dead bat

Saving the best for last, or more accurately, the bat for last: Two Floridians were recently shocked to find that their Fresh Express salad from Walmart contained, ahem, a bat more than they could chew. Last month, the customers prepared to dig into their Organic Marketside Spring Mix salad when lo and behold they discovered some dead bat remains, prompting a CDCl recall and investigation. While the CDC confirmed that both people had eaten “some of the salad before the bat was found,” there have been no signs of ill health or rabies.

Now that you’re feeling adequately grossed out, here are a couple of handy tips for avoiding foodborne illness. In general when preparing food, one should stick to the following four steps for keeping food safe:

1. Wash your hands and surfaces when preparing food.
2. To avoid cross-contamination, keep food ingredients separate.
3. Make sure to cook food to proper temperatures, checking with a food thermometer if necessary.
4. Make sure to always refrigerate promptly.

There are a number of other precautions worth taking into account. The United States Department of Agriculture has provided a comprehensive list of advice for keeping bad things out of your stomach.

Robin Scher is a freelance writer from South Africa currently based in New York. He tweets infrequently @RobScherHimself.

13th Amendment took the country to the edge of the Unitary State structure

Author and constitutional lawyer Canishka Witharana who is involved in the legal work of nationalist groups, said in an interview that attempts were underway to impose a new constitution on federal lines in a deceptive manner. Excerpts of the interview follow

How do you look at the current status of the constitution-making process, ahead of plans for presenting a draft report?

2017-05-16

The process is on. The Parliament started this process by appointing the Constitutional Assembly. When the government came up with the concept of Constitutional Assembly, I wrote an article indicating the dangers of it. Generally, Constitutional Assemblies derive power directly from the people. In this exercise, the representatives of people assume powers to work out a constitution deviating from the usual procedure laid down in the existing system of government. 

13th Amendment took the country to the edge of the Unitary State structure.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Parliamentary privilege and judiciary

By Neville Ladduwahetty-May15, 2017, 

A Fundamental Rights Petition was filed in the Supreme Court (SC. FR. Application No. 116/2016) challenging the legitimacy of the present Government to have a Cabinet of Ministers in excess of 30 and for the number of Ministers who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers and Deputy Ministers not to exceed 40 as per Article 46 (1) of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution.

Parliamentary privilege and judiciary.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

The Dickoya Hospital & Muslim Leadership

By Ameer Ali –May 15, 2017 

Dr. Ameer Ali

India’s magnanimous and magnificent gift of a modern hospital at Dickoya built at a cost of 1,200 million Sri Lankan rupees is an act that should put all Muslim parliamentarians and their Arab backers in shame. Although the hospital is located within the Hatton-Dickoya urban council area in the Nuwara Eliya Disrtrict, where the Indian Tamil community is heavily concentrated, yet, it is a gift to the nation as a whole and not to a particular community. The gift also represents the success of a people oriented Indian diplomacy, even though it will ultimately help India reap maximum economic and geostrategic benefits from Indo-Sri Lankan relations.

Since the end of the civil war in 2009 in which India’s covert support to Sri Lanka’s military manoeuvres made the Sinhalese army’s victory against the LTTE easier, India’s overall image in Sri Lanka and particularly within the majority community has become friendlier. The psychological fear that the Sinhalese elite carried for centuries over a threatening South Indian Tamil invasion completely evaporated after the war thanks partly to the role of Delhi and partly to the ineptitude of LTTE leadership. Indo-Lanka relations have improved tremendously since 2009 and Prime Minister Modi’s timely gift of this hospital will certainly cement that relationship. At the same time one should not forget the basic truth in international relations that behind all acts of altruism there is always the national interest. India cannot be an exception to this rule. As Jawaharlal Nehru said in a speech shortly after India’s independence, “We may talk about international goodwill and mean what we say. But in the ultimate analysis, a government functions for the good of the country it governs and no government dare do anything which in the short or long run is manifestly to the disadvantage of that country.”

While India’s gift for the moment will go a long way to improve not only Indo-Lankan relations but also, as one of its side effects, Sinhalese-Tamil relations the Muslim community’s image since the end of the civil war on the other hand has taken a negative turn. In spite of all Muslim parliamentarians allying themselves with the ruling regime and with several amongst them achieving ministerial status with all its embedded prestige, remuneration package and perks, the anti-Muslim feeling in the country is growing by the day. The irony of it is that all these Muslim ministers and their Muslim parliamentary colleagues are proudly trumpeting what a close relationship that they have managed to cultivate with the ruling regimes of rich Arab nations in the Gulf and to the benefit of Sri Lanka. One of these ministers has even gone all out to redesign the urban infrastructural make up of his constituency by planting date palms along the street so that it resembles an Arab town. It is time to stop and rethink about this vainglorious strategy and assess the damage it is doing to inter-ethnic relationship in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Ameer Ali, School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia

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Unity Govt. speaking in different voices - EDITORIAL

2017-05-16

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) faction in the government has decided to appoint its own Cabinet spokesman, indicating the increasing differences it has with the United National Party (UNP). The immediate cause for the decision seems to be the clash between co-Cabinet spokesman and Health Minister, Rajitha Senaratne and Labour Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne over a suggestion reportedly made by President Maithripala Sirisena on countering trade union action. 

  
In the wake of a series of protests by various groups and on the eve of a countrywide strike by the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), the President had suggested that the task of maintaining essential services be assigned to former army commander, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. This suggestion immediately opened a can of worms. Health Minister Senaratne who broke the news to the media at a weekly news conference meant for the announcement of Cabinet decisions was of the opinion that it was a serious proposal whereas Minister Seneviratne argued saying it was only a joke. This led even to some sort of a personal verbal dual between the two ministers as a result of which the SLFP called for the appointment of their own Cabinet spokesman.

This indicates that the Cabinet spokesmen would in future give the media two different versions on certain matters, either from the same platform or by holding a separate media briefing, a ludicrous situation indeed. On the other hand this suggests that the version of one political party in the government is not acceptable to another party. This naturally raises the question as to how then that the ordinary masses could believe what the government now says.   
The members of a government, especially its ministers are supposed to speak in one voice on the basis of the Cabinet’s collective responsibility which is a constitutional requirement. The Constitution says, “There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers, charged with the direction and control of the Government of the Republic of Sri Lanka, collectively responsible and answerable to Parliament.” Therefore there cannot be more than one version in matters relating to governance.   
If one looks at such matters from a partisan perspective he or she would justify the SJFP also having a Cabinet spokesman as two ministers currently function as Cabinet spokesmen, Rajitha Senarathna and Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilake who are from the UNP. But if the two main parties in the government have decided to work towards a common goal and as a “national or unity government”, as they boast sometimes, there cannot be two versions on the government’s achievements and failures or its expectations and targets.   

Already the government is divided on many matters. The UNP, as promised during the presidential and parliamentary elections, wants to adopt a totally new Constitution while the SLFP faction in the government wants just to amend some of the Articles of the Constitution. The factions in the government were seen last month fighting over the ways of garbage disposal with one wanting to recycle the Meethotamulla garbage while another was proposing that the garbage be transported to another area. One group in the government argues in favour of holding the local government elections under the old system while another group favours holding them under the new system. As thing are at present, the statement issued by the government would confuse the people further by officially appointing Cabinet spokesmen on party lines.   
A country cannot move forward without a single specific goal or objective pursued by the entire government with one mind. The term “national or unity government” would be a laughing stock unless the government works towards a common goal and the ministers speak in one voice.

Mangala, Ravi gets Foreign Affairs

May 15, 2017

It is reported that the cabinet reshuffle that had been expected but continued to be postponed would definitely take place soon. An agreement has been reached between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to carry out the reshuffle as soon as Mr. Wickremesinghe returns from his China tour.

Accordingly, an agreement has been reached to give the post of finance minister that has run to controversy to Mr. Mangala Samaraweera and Mr. Ravi Karunanayaka to be made the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Media had earlier reported that Mr. Ravi Karunanayaka had said he would sit with the opposition if he is removed from the post of Minister of Finance. However, Mr. Karunanayaka has been pressurized to take a step back due to the crisis that has surfaced between the SLFP and the UNP.

An accountable Cabinet

Tuesday, 16 May 2017


The President wanted to reshuffle the Cabinet by Vesak. This did not happen for whatever reason. I didn’t actually think it would make much of a difference. We have an ineffective and unaccountable Cabinet now. Why would assigning the same people different portfolios yield different results? 

The present Cabinet is ineffective, we can agree broadly. Why would the President want to change it otherwise? Why would more than half the political junkies in the country be looking forward to this piece of political drama with bated breath if they were doing a good job? 

But the next negotiated Cabinet will also as effective (or ineffective) as the present one, unless the President does something new. He should get every single Minister to sign a performance contract with him. If he wants, he can also involve the Prime Minister in this exercise, this being a national government and all that. 

The allocation of portfolios can happen in the normal way. The only difference is that there should be a two-day gap between when they know what their portfolios are and when they take their oaths. In this time, they would have to study their responsibilities (the laws they are responsible for; and the Government entities that will be under their authority) and come up with some time-bound performance indicators. They can fill these into a standard contract template that would be handed over along with their assignments. The two days is for agreement to be reached.

Now there would be measures to judge who has been effective and who has not. Now there would be an end to the buck passing and lack of accountability. Every year, the President would conduct a performance review based on the contracts. If the key performance indicators had not been achieved and some extraordinary excuse could not be provided, he could send the non-performer to the backbenches and give the job to someone else. Seniority would cease to be the sole qualification for enjoying the perks that come with portfolios.

Ideally, the ministerial performance contracts would not be made public until the system gets established. Politicians should not be spooked. But now that the Right to Information Act is in force, that would not be possible. 

There is precedent. I first heard about it from the Nigerian Minister of Communication Technology. In a conversation about her energetic approach to her subject, she said that she had a performance contract to fulfil. My understanding is that the ministers who were bound by these contracts then turned around and signed contracts with their senior subordinates. Everyone knew what was expected of them and by when. That’s the essence of accountability. 

We need ministerial performance contracts. To keep appointing Cabinet members in the same old way and expect different results fits Einstein’s definition of insanity.

Puswedilla, Medical Mercenaries & Regime Change

By Granville Perera –May 16, 2017

The strike called by the GMOA with the support of about 30 odd trade unions in the health, education and transport sectors proved to be just another “Puswedilla”. They only used their licence to kill by depriving the poorest in Sri Lanka of medical attention. Now, they are threatening to strike again, with more venom. They do this while they enjoy all the perks and privileges offered by the State including license to practice in private hospitals.  The Government should use an iron whip and bring in legislation where trade union action becomes a criminal non bailable offence related to essential services. An iron fisted rule of Lee Kuan Yew or our own Gota style seems to be the only style of governance that would be understood by these mercenaries of health. Hope Sarath Fonseka would be able to fit in to his former subordinate’s shoes and deliver. I am sure; there would be even public support for white vanning this medical mafia.

The maverick in Parliament, Ranjan Ramanayake provided documentary evidence that Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya, the Mahinda Rajapaksa stooge and disciple and President of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) was caught in the act by confirming his consultation appointment on the 5th of May 2017 when doctors around the country were supposed to be on strike, called by the GMOA. A journalist plant of the GMOA probably would have tipped off Padeniya that Ranjan Ramanayake had called a press conference to prove that “Pavadena ya” was consulting private patients while the entire GMOA was supposed to be on strike, hence the call from the private hospital cancelling Ramanayake’s appointment during the press conference.  What a hypocrite who took the Hippocratic oath. He should be sacked from Government service for this scandalous offence and investigated for the crimes he committed to the poor patients. Its time, Ravi’s taxmen went after them during the consultation hours and insist that hospitals issues official receipts for doctor’s fees.  How disgraceful can it get when you think of the genuine doctors who earned the highest respect and served the country only a few decades ago. The poor patients worshiped them and the current day doctors have only curses from the poor. I knew of a few who would pay for the medicine of the poor if they were not available in the hospital.

The current breed of pompous Government medical practitioners seems to have taken total control of the poor man’s life and each time the Government farts, they go for trade union action compromising the health of the poorest segment of the country. It is time the country took these dirty bulls by their horns and reined them in through Sarath Fonseka or a people’s movement that can kick the asses of these bloody mercenaries who call themselves doctors. Gone are the days when the doctors were the most respected, and worshiped for their yeomen service. The fault lies with the Government for opening this noble profession to undesirables who do not posses basic social etiquette. Private medical services should be curtailed long before private medical education is censured. Those serving in government hospitals should not be allowed to practice anywhere outside, whether it is in their own private practice chambers or any of the swindling private hospitals. Holding the health sector to ransom by these mercenaries is because of the short supply of medical professionals in this country. SAITM and the thousands of students who study abroad can fill this vacuum, but these vultures that probably do not understand the Hippocratic oath will not allow this to happen. All this may change when the government signs the ECTA agreement with India, which will enable Indian professionals to practice in Sri Lanka. Laws should also be amended to allow foreign specialist doctors to serve in both private and state medical facilities without ERPM. A good precedent is the excellent medical professionals currently working for private medical services with the highest professional etiquette. Their professionalism is beyond question and they treat patients with due respect and allocate at least 20 minutes per patient. How many of our medical mercenaries even spend 5 minutes with a patient?

The SAITM protests started claiming the standards were substandard and the wealthy paid their way in to medical education without the required A/L qualifications. mySAITM stories brought out the brilliance of these kids who have chosen to live and study in Sri Lanka even refusing scholarships from foreign universities. Dr. Nalinda Herath, the secretary of the GMOA who had forgotten his Advanced Level examination results is accused of getting in through the district quota with three simple passes. He hasn’t denied the allegation yet. How can this doctor who could not remember his AL results remember what he studied at medical school when he has to treat hundreds of patients everyday. Those who talk about standards in education and who crept in through the district quota have had substandard education. How can one expect to trust a patient’s life with someone who is nowhere closer to the brilliance of SAITM kids?

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The subtext of Modi visit: National security foremost

By Jehan Perera-May 15, 2017, 8:16 pm 

There was some uncertainty whether Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka to join the country in its celebration of the International Day of Vesak would turn embarrassing to the host government. Prior to his visit nationalist politicians and nationalist civil society leaders from the ethnic majority community called for black flag protests. This was against what they called Indian intervention. Two controversial matters currently being negotiated between the two countries are the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) and the Trincomalee harbor project that revolves around the lease of oil tanks. ETCA has generated formidable opposition amongst sections of the local business community and professionals led by medical doctors of the government medical doctors association who fear that they will not be able to withstand Indian competition. Those who sought to give an ulterior motive to the Indian premier’s visit were also able to draw on memories of the Indian intervention of the 1980s that contributed to the strengthening of Tamil militancy in the country.

Those who were associated with the Indian premier’s visit noted that he had been unsure of the public reception he would receive in Sri Lanka. This would have been due to the reports of organized protests against his visit that could have turned ugly. However, the decision of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to seek a meeting with the Indian premier put an end to any plan the nationalist opposition might have had to make a public show of opposition to Indian intervention. The silence of the nationalist opposition and their inability to convert their verbal threats to any form of public protest is an indication of their limited power in the country. The nationalists once again showed themselves to be a fringe group whose strength comes from being included into the agenda of a mainstream political party. In the context of the leadership of the Joint Opposition seeking a meeting with the Indian premier there was no possibility of the nationalists seeking to ride the wave created by a mainstream political actor.

By the time Prime Minister Modi left the country he would have been reassured that the Sri Lankan population in general views India positively as part of its larger civilisational ethos and a powerful country that is capable of assisting Sri Lanka. In particular, India’s more recent role in being supportive of Sri Lanka in international forums is a source of strength and confidence. The reception that the Indian premier received in the hill country where the Tamil people of recent Indian origin are concentrated was extremely warm and enthusiastic. Prime Minister Modi opened a state of the art hospital there and promised the people 10,000 houses in addition to the 4,000 that India has already committed to the plantation sector where they live. To this day the Indian origin Tamils have not recovered from the blow that was dealt to them in 1948 at the time of Independence from British colonial rule when they were deprived of their citizenship rights that included the right to vote. Even to this day they remain the poorest and most socially disadvantaged of all Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities in terms of UN statistics and standards. In this context, it was no surprise that they looked with hope on the Indian premier as their champion and welcomed him accordingly.

SECURITY IMPERATIVE

The choice of International Vesak Day for Prime Minister Modi to make his visit to Sri Lanka was politically astute. Vesak Day became accepted by the UN as an international day due to the efforts of Sri Lanka during the period of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The Indian premier’s visit to Sri Lanka to celebrate this day was an acknowledgement of Sri Lanka’s contribution to the international community and its role in preserving the unique teachings and traditions of Buddhism down the millennia. It was also an opportunity to demonstrate to the Sri Lankans and to the international community the special relationship between the two countries. Prime Minister Modi expressed this reality during the course of his main speech in Sri Lanka when he said, "whether it is on land or in the waters of the Indian Ocean the security of our societies is indivisible." After the end of the war, Sri Lanka has become more openly a focus of competition between the great powers of the world, including the United States, China, Japan and India. Located just below India, Sri Lanka can potentially be used by foreign powers that wish to put pressure on India. In 1963 the world came close to war when the Soviet Union sought to place its missiles in Cuba, which neighbours the United States. The Soviet Union only backed off when the United States threatened to attack the Soviet naval fleet that was approaching Cuba.

National security is non-negotiable to any country. During Sri Lanka’s three decade long war successive governments gave priority to expanding the military budget although there were many other areas in which government expenditures were necessary. Despite criticism by international human rights organizations, they also strengthened and expanded laws relating to national security including the emergency laws and by promulgating the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After the war ended there was an expectation that the government would reduce the size of the military budget and demobilize the military whose numbers had grown to unprecedented proportions. However, none of this happened on the grounds that national security remained the foremost priority. Even today, the former war zones of the North and East continue to have a large and visible military presence on the grounds of national security.

The continuing priority given to national security in Sri Lanka can also be seen in the reluctance of the present government to make the national security laws more liberal and human rights friendly. Both the GSP Plus economic concession and the UNHRC resolution require that the government should replace the present Prevention of Terrorism Act with a law that is more in line with international human rights conventions that Sri Lanka has signed. However, the proposed new Counter Terrorism Act has been severely criticized by international human rights organizations and the TNA as being even more violative of human rights principles than the existing PTA. The proposed new law gives to the police the power to issue detention orders instead of reserving this power to the judicial authorities. Other concerns relate to confessions being used as evidence and on access to legal assistance from the time of arrest.

WALKING TIGHTROPE

The priority given to national security comes from Sri Lanka’s long experience of battling insurgencies, terrorism, war and external interventions. A similar logic can be expected to hold in the case of India, which is a much larger and more important country that is closer to the centre of global politics. India has faced wars with its neighbours and continues to face problems of internal insurgencies. The priority given to national security by all states, including Sri Lanka, suggests that India will prioritise national security in its relationship with Sri Lanka. While it is likely to be flexible and open to negotiations with Sri Lanka on economic, trade and investment issues, it is also likely to be inflexible on national security issues.

The request by China to send a submarine to dock in Colombo port came up during the immediate run up to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka. This gave rise to speculation that it was China’s way of highlighting its presence in Sri Lanka at a time when India was at the centre stage. This is not the first occasion in which China has engaged in submarine diplomacy in Sri Lanka. In 2014 when the Japanese prime minister visited Sri Lanka a Chinese submarine berthed in Colombo port during the visit. On that occasion both Japan and India were concerned about what they saw as a message to them about China’s influence over the former government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. On this occasion however the Sri Lankan government denied permission to the submarine to dock in Colombo port during the Indian premier’s visit.

China has said its submarines need a place to resupply on their way to anti-piracy missions and that stopping to resupply of its submarines that are on their way to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters for protection missions is an internationally accepted practice. China is currently the largest provider of economic resources to Sri Lanka on both concessional and commercial terms. This is a benefit that any Sri Lankan government would be loath to lose. At a time when Western investments are few in coming, China is willing and able to take up economic opportunities in Sri Lanka that may not be economically attractive to privately owned commercial enterprises but are viable to China’s state enterprises. Although generous itself in terms of the economic assistance it provides Sri Lanka, India is unable to match what China is able to provide in terms of economic investments. At the same time India will not be agreeable to Sri Lanka giving China the strategic spaces such as access to ports for military purposes that it may seek. As in the case of all countries, national security comes first. Sri Lanka needs to maintain a neutral national security policy that it will not arouse the security concerns of its neighbours. It is also important that Sri Lanka should continue to walk the tight rope between economic imperatives and national security issues in its own interest.

Sri Lanka’s place in China’s ‘Silk Road’

2017-05-16

During the last weekend, President Xi Jinping unveiled his pet project, presented in a rather confusing jargon, ‘One Belt One Road’, in Beijing. The next door communist neighbour, North Korea in a quirky brotherly fashion greeted the guests with fireworks. Test firing a missile, which it boasted as capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead, Pyongyang stole headlines from Mr. Xi.   
But the caravan went on. By the end of the day, Mr. Xi announced an additional US $ 120 billion of Chinese commitment for the New Silk Road. China’s New Silk Road which was first mooted by Mr. Xi in 2013 and presented to delegates of 65 countries, including 29 heads of states and governments, last Sunday envisaged to build a network of modern infrastructure and port facilities across the land and sea lanes that stretched from mainland China to Europe and Africa.  

By any account, China’s new initiative will be a money spinner. Some Chinese observers tend to draw a parallel with the Marshal Plan, the American initiatives to aid the recovery of post- war Western Europe. However, in some counts, the Marshal Plan fails in comparison, if the full scale of the Chinese ambitions is materialized. The Marshal Plan provided US $ 13 billion assistance ( US $ 160 billion in 2016 value) during its four years of operation. Whereas, Credit Suisse in a recent report estimated that as much as US $ 502 billion in infrastructure development assistance would be splashed out in 65 countries during the next five years under China’s Belt and Road initiative.  
All politics is local. Silk Road is no different. The Chinese economy is slowing down and its ‘new normal growth’ of 6.5 per cent of last year was achieved with the aid of monetary and fiscal stimulus which in effect further increased China’s looming domestic debt burden. Producer Price Index (PPI) has remained negative from 2012 to last year. Yield on investment of one Yuan on GDP has declined from 0.4 Yuan in the early 1990s to a paltry 0.07 Yuan as of 2016. By building infrastructure abroad, which themselves would link the Mainland with distant territories, China aims to kick start factories and construction industry- though at the domestic level, the most crucial reforms concentrate on re-balancing its export driven economy towards a consumer driven one.  

There are geopolitical designs as well.Since Mr Xi’s advent to the helm of the Chinese Communist Party and ex-officio the presidency of China, Beijing has gradually shed its low key approach to international politics, which was best articulated by Deng Xiaoping’s dictum:‘ hide your colours, bide your time.’ China’s new found assertiveness in its neighbourhood, especially in the South China Sea eroded much of goodwill it cultivated with its neighbours, though Beijing at times had managed to buy it back from those like Philippine’s authoritarian president with the help of Red Yuan.   
The Belt and Road initiative is by far the most ambitious approach to project China’s new found clout beyond its traditional borders. There is a correlation between the increase of power of a state and its expansion. When a state grows in power, it expands beyond its borders.. Though the conduct of modern states has become more subtle, the underpinning logic remains the same.   And what better time than now to do that?The reigning super power America is retreating inward and the EU is in disarray. But geopolitics of China’s design would continue to haunt. India and Japan, the two regional states that rival China for influence had been noticeably absent at the Summit, so was much of  Europe, save Greece and Spain- the latter itself, many observers fear, is sitting atop a Greek styled looming bank default.   
Indian concerns are primarily emanating from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that runs through the Pakistani administered Kashmir, over which India claims its sovereignty. “No country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty & territorial integrity,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement announcing its boycott of the summit.   

Japan’s nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also concerned about the growing Chinese influence is inching away from the Country’s Pacifist constitution and is searching for new strategic alliances, leading to a convergence of Indian and Japanese interests.   
Mr. Wickremesinghe was in Beijing gracing the Silk Road Summit. He may have felt himself inconsequential in the presence of Mr Putin, the President of Russia and Turkey’s Erdogan, champions of the new normal of authoritarianism.   
Mr. Wickremesinghe was expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China on a host of development projects including the Hambantota Port and the proposed industrial zone in Hambantota. He earlier signed similar MoUs with Japan and India. Sri Lanka is desperate to sign up more development partners in order to lessen its dependence on China. However, earlier efforts to reach out to America and Europe came to a naught partly due to internal political turmoil in those countries and low strategic importance of Sri Lanka in their eyes. Sri Lanka also presents an opening for Japan as it seeks to redefine its strategic culture. However, the problem that beset Sri Lanka historically is that other than its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, it had very little as enticement to offer its prospective development partners.This may explain why we have failed to attract high end investment.A strategic location that is not exploited is no better than Victorian women’s virginity, perhaps a badge of honour, but of no practical utility.   

However, if Sri Lanka manages to enlist one major country, others will follow for one’s gain would, over time, become the other’s loss. Recent Indian interest, in particular, and Japan’s to a lesser degree, in Sri Lanka is partly driven by increasing Chinese presence in the island. Indian development activity smacks of more of a balancing initiative of China, than of sheer economic logic, which can be understood in the trade- off that entails between India’s domestic economic imperatives and its external imperatives. By creating a level playing field for all these countries, Sri Lanka can maximize benefits for its people. That would also necessitate paying careful attention to India’s strategic concerns and addressing them forthwith.  
 Silk Road and its potential for high level infrastructure boom offer Sri Lanka an opportunity to build a platform that would attract the attention of other prospective development partners. Sri Lanka should view it as an opportunity to diversify, rather than one of dependence.   

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China driving India–Sri Lanka ties

Despite Chinese dominance in Sri Lanka, India has managed to make its own mark, realising that Sri Lanka needs to be treated as an equal partner.

by Geethanjali Nataraj-May 15, 2017

( May 15, 2017, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent visit to India signified a new high in India–Sri Lanka relations. This was his third visit since his government came to power in 2015 and it laid the foundation for long-term collaboration in the areas of energy, infrastructure and special economic zones. After 2500 years of strong cultural, linguistic and religious ties between the two countries, the partnership is entering a new era that has to contend with China’s presence in Sri Lanka.

The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka, signed in 2000, has improved relations and increased trade. Bilateral trade amounted to US$4.7 billion in 2015. Sri Lanka also happens to be India’s largest trading partner in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner globally.

In comparison, bilateral trade between China and Sri Lanka stood at US$4 billion in the same time frame, but with a higher rate of growth. A Sri Lanka–China FTA is also on the anvil. While India is one of the top four investors in Sri Lanka, with cumulative investments of over US$1 billion since 2003, China is the largest investor by far with nearly US$15 billion in funding and investment in 2016 alone. Most of the government and private investment by China is in major infrastructure projects — especially ports and airports. China’s interest in Sri Lanka is largely attributable to its strategic location on the route of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Given the growing dominance of China in South Asia and China’s close connections with Sri Lanka, in recent years the relationship between India and Sri Lanka has centred around economic cooperation and security concerns with less emphasis on political matters. For example, protecting the Tamil populations from the excesses of the army after the collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was an important concern for the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. But important political issues have been overshadowed by the ‘China factor’ — the major reason for stress between the two countries.

China has pumped millions of dollars into Sri Lanka’s infrastructure since the end of its 26-year long civil war in 2009. China’s ‘string of pearls’ strategy is an attempt to expand its influence in South Asia, which is closely watched and monitored by India. China’s flagship projects in Sri Lanka are the Hambantota Port Development and the Colombo Port Project, both located at strategic points in global sea trade. Large projects like these make it easier for Beijing to draw Sri Lanka into its 21st Century Maritime Silk Road project — part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In the last couple of years India has focused on countering the growing presence of China in Sri Lanka by developing infrastructure. According to the government of India, Sri Lanka has been one of the major beneficiaries of India’s development credit, to the tune of US$2.6 billion including US$436 million in grants.

The Indian government has also extended a line of credit of US$167.4 million through the Export-Import Bank of India for the repair and upgrade of the Colombo Matara rail link, which was damaged in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. India has also been supporting a large number of small development projects in education and health through its grant funding.

There are also talks of upgrading the India–Sri Lanka FTA to include a new trade pact called the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which is expected to be signed by the end of 2017. The ETCA is proposed to enhance trade in services, investments and technology cooperation with India’s five fastest growing southern states — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Given these states’ proximity with Sri Lanka, the ECTA would leverage Sri Lanka’s unique geo-strategic location, which is at the crossroads of major shipping routes. The ECTA would also increase regional integration and could make Sri Lanka the geo-economic centre of South Asia.

So far, the Sri Lankan government has been able to strike a balance in its relations with both India and China. Sri Lanka’s financial engagement with China is deep and covers a vast gamut of activities — it depends on China for its developmental needs. Yet given the high level of regular interactions and ministerial-level meetings between Sri Lanka and India, their relations have stabilised too and are at an all-time high.

Despite Chinese dominance in Sri Lanka, India has managed to make its own mark, realising that Sri Lanka needs to be treated as an equal partner. The renewed trust factor and the recent visit of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has laid the foundation for a new era of friendship and cooperation between India and Sri Lanka.

Geethanjali Nataraj is Professor of Applied Economics and Economic Policy at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. This article first published on Esat Asia Forum