BEIJING – China’s marine cooperation with the Maldives carries no militarypurpose and the Indian media’s exaggerated reports stem from jealousy ofChinese cooperation with South Asian countries, analysts said.
“Any cooperation China conducted with South Asian countries is interpretedby the Indian side as besieging India, as India believes South Asia is itsbackyard,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of InternationalRelations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
The Indian media has increasingly hyped China’s cooperation with theMaldives this year due to the chaotic political situation, Zhao Gancheng,director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institutefor International Studies, told the newspaper. India wanted to inciteMaldives’ public opinion against China, he said.
Indian media reflected Indian hegemonism and irresponsible remarks onChina’s cooperation with the Maldives could harm regional stability, Zhaosaid.
China and the Maldives signed a protocol to build a joint ocean observationstation when President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives visitedChina in December, according to the website of China’s State OceanicAdministration.
The two countries would accelerate plans to build the station to observethe climate and the ocean, and deepen cooperation in marine ecologypreservation, prevention of marine disasters and marine scientificresearch, according to the protocol.
While denying its military purpose, Hu said that building an oceanobservatory station with countries such as the Maldives could greatlyreduce the cost of ocean measurement and improve the accuracy and stabilityof signals used for marine research.
Chinese analysts said that the Maldives is an important country on theroute of the Belt and Road initiative and China has strengthenedcooperation with the Maldives in ocean and port construction since 2014.
Marine cooperation between China and the Maldives started in 2014 and thetwo countries have established a stable and long-term cooperationmechanism, the ocean administration said.
From 2015 to 2017, China and the Maldives conducted two phases of jointmarine investigation in waters surrounding the islands, which provided dataabout Indian Ocean climate change and monsoons.