Aid has done 'no harm' to the Maldives: China

China on Thursday said it has never attached any political conditions to aiding the Maldives, and the aid has done no harm to the country's sovereignty and independence, let alone jeopardised the Indian Ocean area's security.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to an article written by the Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed in which he criticised the current president Abdullah Yameen, saying that in "his endless quest to enrich himself, he has sold off the nation's sovereignty."

Nasheed also said that foreign powers, China among them, were engaged in a "land grab" of Maldivian islands' key infrastructure and even essential utilities."Nasheed's words are nonsense," said Geng, pointing out that China's aid to the Maldives already existed in Nasheed's presidential term and had made substantial achievements."I wonder whether Mr Nasheed put all the cooperation on the list as a 'grab,'" Xinhua news agency quoted Geng as saying.

Geng said that China had continued to facilitate infrastructure construction and livelihood cooperation with the Maldives on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment.