China has changed its tune after President Abdulla Yameen’s loss in the presidential election.
During his five-year term, President Yameen continuously courted China, which has been involved in many of Maldives’ major development projects.
This has come at the expense of the decades-old ties between Maldives and India, which has drastically deteriorated.
China had even assisted with President Yameen’s campaign by fast tracking the Sinamale’ bridge’s construction, which allowed the President to open the bridge right before the election.
But China’s media has changed its tune after the landslide win of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the candidate of the opposition coalition.
An op-ed on Chinese news outlet Global Times noted that Maldives' relationship with China was one of the main issues during the election campaign.
However, it also highlighted that Maldives was caught up in a political crisis earlier this year when troops in riot gear surrounded the country’s Supreme Court, which put President Yameen under fire.
The op-ed also mentions reports that the crisis was “the culmination of a standoff between President Abdulla Yameen and the Maldives Supreme Court.”
While noting that Solih had said many things India approved of, it states that once he assumes office, he may launch balanced policies that serve the national interest so as to reduce turmoil in the country and that no sovereign nation’s leader is ever pro one country.
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