Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for visiting Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 7, 2017. Pang Xinglei/Press Association. All rights reserved.Known for its sun-kissed white sand beaches, turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, and breathtaking vistas, the Maldives offers a perfect tropical getaway for those seeking to get lost in peace and tranquility. That was true, anyway, until the beginning of February this year. The island nation is now teetering on the precipice.
President Abdulla Yameen declared a 15-day state of emergency on February 6 only lifted on April 9 amidst what has been described as a “terrorism” crackdown. This appeared to be a brazen attack on the country’s judiciary. The apex court had been acting as a partial check on the increasingly authoritarian president. The supreme court ordered the government to release incarcerated opposition leaders. However, it turned out to be too big of a task for Yameen’s government, triggering an otherwise unavoidable crisis.
The international community, including the United States, Britain, and neighboring India, expressed immediate concerns. Given the Trump administration’s insouciance toward smaller countries, the state department’s statement was a welcome development. The former President, Mohamed Nasheed, who is in exile in Sri Lanka, called upon on Delhi for a military intervention to end the unrest. He also urged the US government to block the Maldivian government’s financial transactions. The other important player China, however, was not breaking away from its standard boilerplate diplomacy. Rather, Beijing hoped that the crisis would be “solved internally.”
