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Sri Lanka is frequently referenced as an example of a country ensnared by China's global debt strategy, serving as a cautionary tale for smaller nations in the Global South that pursue close economic ties with China. This Chapter intends to unpack this dominant narrative by exploring the systemic level factors and conditions that enabled Sri Lanka to be close to China. While recognising the vital role played by domestic factors such as leaders' beliefs, strategic culture, and public opinion, this Chapter focuses on the pressure from the US towards Sri Lanka and its implications for Sri Lanka–China relations. It argues that the US's continuous offensive pressure towards Sri Lanka since 2005 has made it difficult for Sri Lanka to find global partnerships to advance its development and security needs. Accordingly, the country chose to strengthen its relations with China, leading Sri Lanka to be a site for superpower competition between the dominant superpower (the US) and a rising power (China). The Chapter uses Measheimer's Offensive Realism to understand the US's power maximisation behaviour in Sri Lanka and its effects.

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Sri Lanka as a Site of Global Power Competition: Sri Lanka's Relations with the US and China

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Pavithra Jayawardena

摘要

Sri Lanka is frequently referenced as an example of a country ensnared by China's global debt strategy, serving as a cautionary tale for smaller nations in the Global South that pursue close economic ties with China. This Chapter intends to unpack this dominant narrative by exploring the systemic level factors and conditions that enabled Sri Lanka to be close to China. While recognising the vital role played by domestic factors such as leaders' beliefs, strategic culture, and public opinion, this Chapter focuses on the pressure from the US towards Sri Lanka and its implications for Sri Lanka–China relations. It argues that the US's continuous offensive pressure towards Sri Lanka since 2005 has made it difficult for Sri Lanka to find global partnerships to advance its development and security needs. Accordingly, the country chose to strengthen its relations with China, leading Sri Lanka to be a site for superpower competition between the dominant superpower (the US) and a rising power (China). The Chapter uses Measheimer's Offensive Realism to understand the US's power maximisation behaviour in Sri Lanka and its effects.