Lankan FM to visit China ahead of rights resolution in UNHRC

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris will arrive here next week on an official visit as Colombo steps up efforts to counter US plans to move a resolution at the UNHRC over alleged rights abuses in the war against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Peiris will make the trip from February 10 to 13 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing here today.
His visit coincides with the recent announcement by the US that it will sponsor a third resolution in March at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The resolution will build on two others passed in 2012 and 2013. The previous resolutions, backed by India, sought commitments from Sri Lanka on reconciliation and rights accountability.
Sri Lanka fears that the new resolution may call for an independent international probe into the alleged war crimes during the final phase of the military battle with the LTTE in 2009.
Peiris has already visited India and sought its support.
China, which has emerged as a strategic ally of Sri Lanka in recent years by investing billions of dollars in the country's infrastructure sector, voted against the US move last year, while India voted in favour of it.