Speaking after officially kick-starting the partly China funded bridge project, dubbed the 'China-Maldives Friendship bridge', president Yameen addressed the continued international criticism of his government by taking the garment industry as an example. "We must accept that in the garment industry there will be various sizes for pants and shirts. One size won't fit us all. This is a great example for the first world nations when dealing with third world countries," the president said. "If the governments of such countries care for the well-being of their people, why should they doubt that our governments won't wish the same for our people." The jailing of former president Mohamed Nasheed and other politically motivated trials have made the Maldives the subject of mounting international criticism. International pressure was further fueled after a UN panel ruled Nasheed's incarceration illegal. The former president’s lawyers have stepped up their efforts to impose targeted sanctions against the Maldives and its leadership, following the ruling by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention late September declaring his imprisonment as arbitrary. The European parliament passed a resolution earlier this month condemning the human rights abuses of President Yameen's government, and calling for targeted sanctions to be imposed on his officials and supporters in the business community. President Yameen insisted that powerful nations must give up the idea of forcing weaker nations to adopt their beliefs in this civilised age. He said a world power like China has a set a precedent for the rest of the world by assisting Maldives in the key project. China has proven that international relations can be mutually beneficial to the big and the small alike, he added. "International relations, international diplomacy is not about predatory practice. We would not like to be placed under scrutiny. But rather we would like international community to be watchful of the misfortune," he continued. "We don’t believe that we should be placed on a treacherous slide. Tonight, the Maldives is not judged without trial or served on a small platter because we are small." The landmark bridge project was kick started during the special ceremony Wednesday evening by president Yameen and Gao Yan, the Chinese Vice Minister for Commerce. The project had been awarded to Chinese contractor CCCC Second Harbour Engineering Company, which had bid USD 200 million for the project, drastically slashing the government’s previously projected estimation of USD 300 million. The bridge will connect Male’s Raalhugandu Area to the southern end of the airport’s runway. The project is scheduled to conclude by June 2018.