Sri Lanka's warming ties with China is expected to be placed on the back burner after the island nation's new leadership, which ran on a promise to slam the breaks on doing business with Beijing, was sworn in yesterday.

Maithripala Sirisena took his oath as president on Friday evening, January 9. During the campaign, he warned voters that they would become "slaves" and their country a "colony" if the policies of his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa, went on for another six years.

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In his election manifesto, Sirisena said the land, which the "white man" took by arms, was at the mercy of foreigners paying a select few. Rajapaksa counted big-ticket infrastructure projects, financed by China, as his important achievements while in office.

In Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, the construction of a $1.5 billion waterfront city is in full swing. The project includes hotels, marinas and malls - the first in a series of China's investments that total $4 billion. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a visit to the island in September, gave the go-signal himself to begin construction.

But not all are happy with China's huge presence. A local daily pointed out in September that the building frenzy sent jitters to voters, worried that Sri Lanka's leadership has been "bought." Voters are also wary that Chinese workers, not locals, are building the projects on top of the country's rising debt to China.

In December, Sri Lanka's new prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe sought to shelve the port city project, while an opposition spokesman announced a plan to check all construction deals for flaws.

They were quick to deny any bad blood with China, saying the deals just happen to be with the Chinese. The new president and prime minister seek more moderate "balanced" relations with China and the island's northeast neighbor, India.

China has slowly but surely built an alliance with strategically located Sri Lanka, during the time the U.S. and Canada withheld aid for the country over the government's treatment of Tamil rebels. Beijing stepped in with unconditional loans for badly needed infrastructure. 

But for Chinese analysts, the change in Sri Lanka's leadership is hardly a setback for Beijing's plans. They say politicians usually say one thing during the campaign and do another after they are in office. 

TagsMahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka