No military purpose for Chinese observatory in Maldives: report

A Chinese marine observatory to be built in the Maldives will have no military purpose, state media said Tuesday,

The Global Times said the aim of the proposed facility in Makunudhoo island, in Haa Dhaalu atoll in the north west, was to “observe the climate and the ocean, and deepen cooperation in marine ecology preservation, prevention of marine disasters and marine scientific research.”

It denied Indian media claims that China had an ulterior motive for positioning the observatory in the Maldives.

“Any cooperation China conducted with South Asian countries is interpreted by the Indian side as besieging India, as India believes South Asia is its backyard,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.