Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa broke his silence on Thursday by releasing a book titled “The Conspiracy”, in which he claimed that the “geopolitical rivalry” between China and other countries led to his ouster in 2022.
Rajapaksa was forced into temporary exile after protesters stormed his official residence amidst street protests over the country’s economic crisis. The book defends his government’s economic policies, which resulted in a foreign debt default and severe shortages of food and fuel.
Rajapaksa pointed to Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka as a factor in his downfall, stating that there was foreign involvement in his ouster. While he did not name specific countries, the United States had previously warned against Sri Lanka falling into a Chinese debt trap.
Following his ouster, Rajapaksa was flown out of Sri Lanka and resigned from Singapore before returning home. In the book, he also claimed that protesters with foreign funding took to the streets during the economic crisis.