Cameron Faces New Questions Over Promotion of Beijing-Funded Sri Lankan Port

MPs questioned about Lord Cameron’s declared interests, including payment he received for an event in which he promoted Sri Lanka’s Port City Colombo.

Video grab of the introduction of Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton at the House of Lords, London on Nov. 20, 2023. Parliament/PA

Fresh questions have been raised in Parliament on Thursday over Lord Cameron’s promotion of a special economic zone in Sri Lanka that is a part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Since becoming foreign secretary last week, the newly appointed Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and former prime minister who heralded the “golden era” of Sino-British relations has been haunted by the shadow of his legacy.

New questions were raised over footage that showed Lord Cameron, a private citizen until this month, speaking at an event during Sri Lanka’s Port City Colombo Roadshow in the UAE in September and downplaying the Chinese regime’s involvement in the project.

The same news clip, published by Sri Lankan broadcaster News First, shows Thulci Aluwihare, deputy managing director at China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Port City Colombo Co., a subsidiary of U.S.-sanctioned, Chinese state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) that runs the project, saying the former British prime minister’s presentation to investors had “resulted in responses much better than” what they had expected.

According to The Times of London, the Sri Lankan investment minister told local media the event was “handled by CHEC Port City [Colombo],” and that Lord Cameron was “selected by the Port City company” as a speaker, although Lord Cameron’s spokesman said the former prime minister had ”not engaged in any way with China or any Chinese company about these speaking events.”

Other unearthed images and footage pictured Lord Cameron together with Yang Lu, managing director of CHEC Port City Colombo. According to Politico, Lord Cameron’s office said the pair didn’t talk about his involvement in any speaking events.

Lord Cameron’s office said he was booked by the Washington Speakers Bureau on behalf of KPMG Sri Lanka.

Raising questions over Lord Cameron’s interests in the House of Commons on Thursday, Pat McFadden, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “The foreign secretary received fulsome praise from the China Harbour Engineering Company for his role in promoting the Port City Colombo project in Sri Lanka. Can the minister tell the House who the ultimate client was when the foreign secretary received payment from KPMG Sri Lanka for his role in promoting that project? Was it the Sri Lankan government or the China Harbour Engineering Company, which is owned by the Chinese state?”

Answering the question, John Glen, paymaster general and minister for the Cabinet Office, said it was not a matter for him.

Mr. Smith and Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh also quizzed the minister on whether he had spoken to the independent adviser on ministers’ interests about declarations of interest by Lord Cameron, including his role at Greensill Capital, for which he had lobbied.

Mr. Glen told the MPs, “There is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of private interests held by Ministers, as is set out in the ministerial code. Preliminary discussions have been held with the Foreign Secretary, in consultation with the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, to ensure that all interests are managed appropriately.

Promoting the Port City Colombo project to investors in September, Lord Cameron set out to “correct some misapprehensions” about the project.

“When you read the press about it, you'd think the whole thing was owned by China, run by China, governed by China, and the Sri Lankans have made a terrible mistake, but when you actually look at the facts, the fact is: It is owned by Sri Lanka. It will be governed by rules made by Sri Lankans,” Lord Cameron said.

“Yes, the Chinese have invested, and the port reclamation was absolutely essential. But it’s now for others to invest alongside that and try and make a success of this project,” he added.

He also downplayed the International Monetary Fund’s scepticism of the project, saying, “while there is some skepticism in their report, it does say this will be a good opportunity for businesses to invest in Sri Lanka.”

Workers work at the construction site as part of a China-funded project for Port City in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Nov. 8, 2019. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images

The controversial project was launched in 2014 during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Sri Lanka.

Beijing-backed CHEC Port City Colombo invested $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) to create 269 hectares (ha) of artificial island. In exchange, the Chinese company was granted a 99-year-lease for 116 ha of the land, or two-thirds of land for commercial use.

The Sri Lankan government controls the rest of the commercial land (62 ha) and 91 ha of public areas.

Supporters hope the artificial city will become the Indian Ocean’s Singapore or Dubai, but the project has been opposed over concerns about its impact on marine life and other animals on land and the security impact of having the Chinese regime controlling the country’s major infrastructures.

State-owned China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPH) holds an 85 percent stake in the Colombo International Container Terminals. Another Sri Lankan port, the Hambantota Port, has also been leased to CMPH in 2017 for 99 years after the debt-saddled government couldn’t repay a Chinese loan.

In a report published in July, the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament said the Chinese regime uses its Belt and Road Initiative to grant loans to countries to build infrastructure, but there are concerns that the regime can use its overage over these countries to “extract strategic concessions (such as supporting China’s territorial ambitions at the expense of their own, or agreeing to long-term contracts that might not be in their national interest): a practice known as ‘debt-trap diplomacy.'”

There have also been concerns that Beijing may set up military bases around Sri Lankan ports.

Last month, the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. committed more than $500 million to support the development of a deep-water shipping container terminal in the Port of Colombo in a bid to create greater prosperity for Sri Lanka and to counter Beijing’s debt-trap diplomacy.

The Epoch Times reached out to Lord Cameron for comment.