Secret military works in the name of agri project? Maldives opposition raises alarm over Chinese presence

Maldives' main opposition party MDP on Tuesday said that a Chinese company awarded a large-scale agriculture project on an island - Uthuru Thila Falhu - would carry out Chinese military work. Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail said there's a lot of geopolitics connected to this.

"They're not coming to plant trees. There's a strong MNDF [Maldives National Defense Force] harbor in front of there. They're coming in front to do military work of a big country far from here," Fayyaz was quoted as saying by Male-based news organisation Adhadhu.

Fayyaz's claims come at a time when Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu is determined to reduce Indian presence in the island nation and announced that no Indian troops would remain in Maldives, not even in civilian clothing. Since assuming power in November last year, Muizzue has taken many anti-Indian decisions, giving China a wider playground in the Indian Ocean Region. 

After his first visit to China in January, Muizzu allowed China's research vessel to dock at Male. At that time, it was feared that the vessel would map the seabed of the Indian Ocean - a strategic region where China has been competing with India for influence. 

On Tuesday, the opposition leader confirmed that the Chinese research vessel had been mapping underwater terrain over the past few months after entering the Maldivian territorial waters. The MDP chairman accused the Muizzu government of bringing distant superpower China to the region and trying to disrupt the peace and stability of the Indian Ocean.      

On January 24 this year, Indian geostrategist Brahma Chellaney said China is aggressively engaged in mapping the Indian Ocean bed and collecting seismic and bathymetric data to facilitate submarine operations in India's maritime backyard. "And the Maldives, under its new Islamist-leaning, pro-China president, is becoming an enabler."

On March 28, the state-run Maldives Industrial Development Free Zone (MIDF) signed an MoU with China's Harbor Engineering Company to carry out a large-scale agriculture project after land reclamation in Uthuru Thila Falhu - an atoll which is on the northern side and closest to India.

Under the MoU, the MIDF will work with the Chinese company to develop an Agricultural Economic Zone (AEZ) in the Maldives. However, the opposition leader said that the Chinese company - China Harbor Engineering - will not plant trees, but will do military work.  

China Harbor Engineering, the world's second-largest company for land reclamation, developed Sri Lanka's Hambantota port, which was later taken over by Beijing after Colombo failed to service its debts.

In January 2018, Bangladesh blacklisted the Chinese firm for allegedly trying to bribe a senior government official and stopped its work in the country.

Adhadhu reported that China Harbor Engineering functions under the control of a special commission directly overseen by the Chinese government's State Council. Beijing has awarded several military projects to the company, which is alleged to have direct ties with China's army. 

In 2020, the American government reportedly took action against the company over land reclamation projects to create islands for military use in the South China Sea.