The construction of the base is being led by the Aerospace Information Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Apart from signals intelligence, China's ground stations also play a key role in the country's overall space infrastructure, fulfilling the telemetry, tracking, and command capabilities that enable the operation of satellites and other spacecraft. With China's orbital launch rate increasing dramatically over the years, the country needs more ground station support infrastructure to keep up with the pace.
Sri Lanka's heavy debt to China, owing almost a tenth of its GDP and a fifth of its total external public debt, has made the country vulnerable to Beijing's demands. In exchange for restructuring the debt, China has requested permission to build the radar base, a move that experts believe is part of China's willingness to leverage the debts of its economic partners for strategic gain. Sri Lanka is not the first country where China has leveraged debt for strategic purposes, with Beijing often imposing draconian conditions that grant domestic governments no oversight or access into the duties performed by the radar bases.
Prof Alessio Patalano of KCL warns that this move by China is ultimately about information warfare, with intercepting shipping signals providing vital intelligence to Beijing. The worrying aspect of this situation is not just China's ability to leverage debt owed through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, but also that national authorities will do whatever it takes to free themselves from the difficult realities of economic cooperation with China.
