在斯里兰卡南海岸偏远的渔业城镇汉班托特(Hambantota)，中国工程师沿着海滩挖了一条通道，把印度洋和内陆的一个巨坑连通起来。坑边高耸的混凝土墙壁，让下边作业的挖土设备相形见绌。
明年，施工方将在这个人工巨坑里灌满水，完成一座国际港的一期工程。这个港口将服务于往来于东亚和中东之间的运油船。
"很多当地人跑来看这个工程，"一位官方导游说道。这位导游把游客带到斯里兰卡总统拉贾帕克萨(Mahinda Rajapaksa)与中国总理温家宝拍过合照的一个位置。
建设这座港口是拉贾帕克萨的主意。他的家族上月在地区议会选举中赢得了好几个席位。不过，虽然民众把这座港口视作一项工程奇迹，分析师却把它看作科伦坡与北京之间关系不断增进的象征。中国为项目一期工程提供了3.6亿美元贷款。在拉贾帕克萨上周庆祝打败反政府武装"泰米尔伊拉姆猛虎解放组织"（猛虎组织）一周年之际，这些建筑工程表明了他的成功在多大程度上要归功于北京。
凭借打败猛虎组织——中国为他提供军火——的胜绩，以承诺建设大型基础设施——其中许多项目也是靠中国资助——拉拢选民，这位留着八字须、总是戴着招牌栗色披肩和身着传统服装的统治者在今年的选举中获得连任。
"自从战争结束后，中国一直在设法挺进斯里兰卡，抓住更多机遇，"新德里智库——政策研究中心(Centre for Policy Research)的战略研究教授布拉马•切拉尼(Brahma Chellaney)表示。
2009年，中国成为斯里兰卡最大的外资来源，为斯里兰卡提供了12亿美元资金，几乎是第二大资金来源——亚洲开发银行(ADB)所提供4.24亿美元贷款的3倍。
除了汉班托特港以外，中方还帮助斯里兰卡建设一座煤电厂、一处石油仓储设施和位于科伦坡的一个表演艺术中心。今年3月，中国承诺再提供2.9美元资金，用于建设一座新机场和升级铁路。
曾演过僧伽罗语影片的拉贾帕克萨已开始依赖中国提供外交支持。去年北京帮助压下了要求联合国调查斯里兰卡战争期间是否存在违反人权行为的呼声。
对中国来说，与斯里兰卡交好，可获得通往印度洋的可靠途径。中国进口石油大多都经过印度洋。有人怀疑，有朝一日，该岛国可能成为中方一个事实上的海军基地。
"中国要崛起为亚洲首屈一指的大国……就必须成为印度洋地区的主导力量，"切拉尼表示。建设大型基础设施需要付出代价。2009财年，由于公共债务激增，斯里兰卡财赤占国内生产总值(GDP)的比例达到近10%的水平，大为超出7%的目标。
为此，国际货币基金组织(IMF)今年2月推迟了总额26亿美元贷款计划中第三批贷款的发放。此举不会引发危机：斯里兰卡政府拥有充足的外汇储备，而该国央行预计今年经济将增长6.5%。
但政界反对派人士称，IMF严格的贷款条件，给了斯里兰卡政府一个借口，让它进一步投入中国及其它要求不那么苛刻的捐助国（如伊朗）的怀抱。
身为反对党"统一国民党"(United National Party)党员的经济学家哈沙•德•席尔瓦(Harsha de Silva)表示："既然不管怎样都会有投资者进来，又何必有良好的管理？"
不管批评人士怎么说，拉贾帕克萨与北京的友谊成果在斯里兰卡随处可见。
译者/杨远
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001032737
At Hambantota, a remote fishing town on Sri Lanka's south coast, Chinese engineers dig a channel through the beaches, connecting the Indian Ocean with a vast inland pit, whose soaring concrete walls dwarf the earth-moving equipment working below.
Next year, project managers will fill this man-made crater with water, creating the first phase of an international harbour that will service the passing ships of the oil trade between east Asia and the Middle East.
"There are a lot of local crowds who come to see this," says an official guide, who takes tourists to a vantage point where Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's president, is pictured standing alongside Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier.
The port is the brainchild of Mr Rajapaksa, whose family won several seats in the district in parliamentary elections last month. But while the public sees the harbour as an engineering wonder, analysts view it as a symbol of the growing relationship between Co-lombo and Beijing, which lent $360m (€290m, £250m) for the first phase of the project. As Mr Rajapaksa this week celebrates the first anniversary of Colombo's victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam separatist group, these building works show how much he owes his success to Beijing.
The moustachioed ruler, known for his trademark maroon shawl and traditional dress, won a second term this year on the back of his victory over the Tamil Tigers – with China providing him with munitions – and by wooing voters with promises of big-ticket infrastructure pro-jects, many of which are again backed by China.
"Since the end of the war, China has been trying to jump in and seize more opportunities in Sri Lanka," says Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi think-tank.
China was Sri Lanka's biggest source of foreign funding in 2009, providing $1.2bn – nearly triple the $424m given by the number two overseas lender, the Asian Development Bank.
Aside from Hambantota's port, projects include a coal-fired power plant, an oil bunkering facility and a performing arts centre in Colombo. In March, China pledged another $290m for a new airport and to upgrade the island's railways.
Mr Rajapaksa, who once acted in Sinhalese films, is starting to rely on China for diplomatic support. Beijing helped thwart calls last year for a UN probe into allegations of human rights violations during the war.
For Beijing, the partnership with Sri Lanka offers secure access to the Indian Ocean through which most of China's oil passes. Some suspect the island could one day serve Beijing as a de facto navy base.
"If China is to emerge as the pre-eminent power in Asia . . . then China has to be the dominant force in the Indian Ocean region," says Prof Chellaney. Big infrastructure projects come at a price. Sri Lanka's fiscal deficit reached nearly 10 per cent of gross domestic product in the 2009 fiscal year compared with a target of 7 per cent, amid soaring public debt.
This led the International Monetary Fund to postpone in February the third tranche of a $2.6bn loan programme. The delay is not sparking a crisis – the government has adequate foreign exchange reserves and the central bank expects the economy to grow 6.5 per cent this year.
But opposition politicians say the IMF's tight conditions give the government an excuse to move further into the embrace of China and other less demanding benefactors, such as Iran.
"What do you need good governance for when investors are coming in anyway?" says Harsha de Silva, an economist and politician with the opposition United National party.
Whatever critics say, the fruits of Mr Rajapaksa's friendship with Beijing can be seen everywhere in Sri Lanka.
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