Sri Lanka seeks Chinese aid after super typhoon, fueling geopolitical rivalry with India

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka has formally requested China’s assistance to rebuild critical infrastructure devastated by Storm Ditwah, which killed hundreds of people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath announced the request Monday following talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. The storm struck the island nation in November, killing at least 641 people and affecting more than 10% of the country’s 22 million residents.

The World Bank estimates the disaster caused approximately $4.1 billion in physical damage.

Herath said he asked China to help reconstruct destroyed roads, railways, and bridges. According to a statement, Wang "assured his personal intervention" to support Sri Lanka’s recovery.

The meeting occurred during Wang’s stopover in Colombo following a diplomatic tour of Tanzania and Lesotho. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately provide further comment.

The appeal for Chinese aid comes three weeks after India pledged $450 million in humanitarian assistance for storm recovery. Both China and India are currently competing for influence in the strategically located South Asian nation.

Colombo’s latest appeal for international aid is far more than a plea for disaster recovery; it is a high-stakes geopolitical gambit played out in the increasingly contested waters of the Indian Ocean. Occupying a critical chokepoint on the east-west maritime corridor, Sri Lanka serves as the only deep-water logistical hub between Dubai and Singapore, making it a primary theater for the intensifying rivalry between New Delhi and Beijing.

For Beijing, the island nation is a cornerstone of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China’s financing of large-scale infrastructure projects is central to its "String of Pearls" strategy, aimed at securing energy sea lanes and projecting influence within India’s traditional maritime backyard. However, this partnership has become synonymous with "debt-trap diplomacy." The 2017 handover of the Hambantota Port to a Chinese state-owned enterprise on a 99-year lease—a consequence of Colombo’s inability to service its debt—remains a stark cautionary tale for regional observers. Any further reliance on Chinese capital risks locking Sri Lanka into a cycle of deeper dependency.

New Delhi, viewing the island as within its rightful sphere of influence, has moved aggressively to counter Beijing’s encroachment. India’s recent $450 million humanitarian assistance package is a calculated effort to reassert its presence. By framing its support as disaster relief rather than the opaque infrastructure loans favored by China, India is attempting to market itself as a more benevolent and reliable partner.

In the wake of recent storm devastation, Colombo is deftly navigating this tug-of-war. By leveraging its humanitarian crisis, the Sri Lankan government has effectively forced both regional giants to compete for influence, turning a national calamity into a strategic opportunity to extract concessions and capital from two competing powers.

The Vietnamese-American community, long skeptical of Chinese expansionism, will likely view this as yet another example of Beijing’s "debt-trap diplomacy" playing out across the Indo-Pacific.