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A high-tech Chinese research ship docked at the strategically important Hambantota port departed from Sri Lankan waters on Monday after a controversial six-day visit. The ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship 'Yuan Wang 5' ship was originally scheduled to arrive at the Chinese-run port on August 11 but it was delayed in absence of permission by Sri Lankan authorities following security concerns raised by India. The Chinese ship arrived in the southern Sri Lankan port of Hambantota on August 16 at 8:20 am local time. It was docked there for replenishment. The ship left the port at 4 pm local time, harbour master Nirmal Silva told reporters here. Its next port call is at China's Jiang Yin port, officials said. The Hambantota port officials said as agreed there was no rotation of personnel during the call. Sri Lanka provided the necessary assistance sought by the Chinese embassy here during the ship's visit. Sri Lanka had asked China to defer the visit amid India's concerns
China will not be allowed to use the southern port of Hambantota for military purposes, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, apparently attempting to allay fears in India and the US about China's increasing maritime presence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. Wickremesinghe said this ahead of the arrival of a high-tech Chinese research ship, which on Tuesday docked at the Hambantota Port, which Beijing took over on a 99-year-lease as a debt swap in 2017. We do not want Hambantota to be used for military purposes, Wickremesinghe said on Sunday in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper at the President's House in Colombo. His statement to the Japanese newspaper was apparently aimed at allaying fears in India and the United States about China's increasing maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific. The port was developed as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, but Colombo leased the port to Beijing in 2017 because it became unable to pay back the ...