CIA chief says chaos-hit Sri Lanka made 'dumb bets' on China

The chief of the US spy agency on Wednesday blamed “dumb bets” on high-debt Chinese investment as a factor in Sri Lanka's economic collapse that triggered a political crisis in the island nation. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, CIA chief Bill Burns said the mistake should serve as a warning to other nations. "The Chinese have a lot of weight to throw around and they can make a very appealing case for their investments," Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum. But nations should look at "a place like Sri Lanka today - heavily indebted to China - which has made some really dumb bets about their economic future and are suffering pretty catastrophic, both economic and political, consequences as a result.China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka - strategically located in the Indian Ocean and off India, often seen as a rival of Beijing - and worked closely with former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and landed Colombo in a dragon debt trap. In 2017, Sri Lanka was unable to repay a $1.4 billion loan for Hambantota port construction and was forced to lease out the facility to a Chinese company for 99 years. The construction was carried out by a joint venture of China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) and the Sino Hydro Corporation.