Chinese presence in Lanka not a concern'

The United States is not concerned about the increasing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said here on Wednesday.

Briefing the media after meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa, External Affairs Minister GL Peiris, and other politicians and businessmen, Blake said the US and China were aware of each other's national interests and were in touch with each other over a variety of issues. He had himself interacted with the Chinese Foreign Minister on these issues. He, however, added that he had taken up with Rajapaksa the issue of Sri Lanka's ties with Iran. He noted that the Lankan leaders were aware of the US' concerns about Iran, and the resolutions of the UN Security Council on Iran.
He had urged the Sri Lankan President to work with the Tamil political parties to find an acceptable political solution to the ethnic question, while resettling and rehabilitating the war displaced Tamils in North Sri Lanka.
Blake said that he had been trying to persuade the Tamil Diaspora in the US to undertake developmental and business ventures in the waraffected North, and had witnessed a change in their mindset. The US, he said, could help private firms set up ventures in the North as it had done in the Eastern province.
On human rights issues, Blake said he had sought from the Lankan government steps to ensure the freedom of the media and also transparency in regard to the conditions under which LTTE cadre were kept in the detention camps. The US itself had not sought access to these camps, he said. But the US would like organisations like the Red Cross to be given access, he added.