June 20, 2017 7:03 PM
Posted By: Cindy
A recent report
released by the Pentagon indicates that China
is likely seeking to establish a military base in Pakistan, a country
with which it has a longstanding
friendly relationship. Wajahat Khan at NBC News report:
The Pentagon didn’t provide a time frame for such a move.
However, a senior Pakistani diplomat confirmed to NBC News that his country
invited China to build a naval facility on its territory back in 2011.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the diplomat said
this request came just days after U.S. Navy SEALs conducted a secret raid to
kill Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, when relations
between Washington and Islamabad took a nosedive.
Despite the reports, China’s Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Hua Chunying dismissed the idea of a Chinese base in Pakistan as “conjecture” and
“irresponsible remarks.”
But Western experts and Pakistani officials see it as a
distinct possibility. [Source]
Pakistan’s partnership with China goes beyond the
possibility of hosting Chinese military. The South Asian country is
expected to play a key role in China’s One Belt,
One Road initiative, a mammoth transcontinental infrastructure project whose
name is inspired by the ancient Silk Road and maritime trading routes. The
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), in which China has pledged
nearly $60 billion in infrastructure investments, is set to bring modern
transportation networks, energy projects, as well as special economic zones to
Pakistan. While many in Pakistan have praised the potential benefits of the
project, others have remained skeptical of the security
and rights risks that are involved. A leaked document on the long-term
plan of the CPEC did little to ease concerns over the project’s impact on
Pakistan’s economy, political environment, and society. The situation was
further complicated this week after Pakistan issued a new anti-dumping
ruling against Chinese steel products. The steel investigation led to
additional speculations about the motive behind China’s economic diplomacy.
At The News, S
Akbar Zaidi looks at the various concerns surrounding CPEC:
It is clear that as a result of CPEC, some sort of
transformation of Pakistan, is underway. It also seems more than certain that
this is a Chinese project, rather than a Pakistani one, and the benefits will
be far in the favour of Chinese investments than Pakistani ones, and Pakistanis
will be merely externalities to the large project and its investments. Clearly,
Pakistan will also benefit, especially once the power production and
infrastructure come on line, but most of the benefits are heavily loaded in favour
of the Chinese.
Pakistan has been subservient to the Chinese in its
appeasement of Chinese interests around CPEC, although, perhaps, this is
nothing new in terms of Pakistan’s history and political economy. From the
influence of American imperialism for most of its existence, Pakistan gave way
to Saudi intrusion in domestic, cultural and social affairs, and now has
prostrated itself in front of Chinese imperial designs.
CPEC is a Chinese project, for Chinese interests, and
Pakistan just happens to be part of the geographical terrain. Ironic it is,
then, that having fought a war against one formally communist regime to stop it
gaining access to warm waters, another former communist regime is granted huge
easy concessions for the same access.
This is not to deny that Pakistan too, will benefit from
Chinese investments, and ‘Estimates from the Pakistan Business Council suggest
the projects could account for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP over the next
five years and boost growth by about 3 percentage points’.Yet, many observers
caution Pakistan after how Chinese terms and investments turned sour in Sri
Lanka, Tajikistan and in many parts of Africa. [Source]
Another critique of CPEC revolves around the question of
whether the trade route would be viable in the country’s violence-prone areas,
such as the province of Balochistan where there has been an ongoing insurgency.
The CPEC project is a primary target in Balochistan because local
separatists view it as a threat to the Baloch people. Ensuring security in
these areas has been one of the biggest challenges to the success of CPEC. Last
month, two
Chinese nationals were kidnapped in Balochistan and later
confirmed to have been killed. The incident prompted Pakistan to
enhance security around Chinese citizens residing in the country. The
deaths also led to widespread calls for revenge among Chinese internet users,
with netizens demanding the Chinese government to send troops to Pakistan for
retribution. Coco Liu at South China Morning Post reports:
On Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform
with more than 340 million monthly active users, anger towards the killing –
and Beijing’s lack of response – is running high.
“How much blood do we still have to spill until the government
is willing to take action?” wrote a Weibo user going by the name ‘No.1 School
Guard Deng Dabao’. The comment was liked by some 80 users.
[…] But experts say the death of the two Chinese
nationals is unlikely to become a turning point in foreign policy. “Will
Beijing follow the request of Chinese social media users and send troops
abroad? No, of course not,” said Wu Xinbo, a professor of the Institute of
International Studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University.
Wu said China had not signed any agreements with nations
in terms of building military bases on foreign soils, making it hard to send
troops abroad. Besides, principles such as “non-interference in each other’s
internal affairs” had served as the foundation of Chinese foreign policy for
decades, and Chinese leaders were far from ready to revise them, he said. [Source]
Some reports claim that the couple were not teachers as
previously reported but missionaries who were preaching illegally in Pakistan
before they were abducted. Nasir Jamal at Pakistani newspaper Dawn
writes that the pair were sent
by a South Korean agency to promote Christianity in Pakistan.
Both Lee and Meng were part of a group of 13 Chinese men
and women brought to Pakistan between November last year and January this year
by a Korean, Juan Won Seo, ostensibly to learn Urdu and then teach the language
to the other Chinese expected to arrive here in future.
Juan had come to Quetta in 2011 and claimed to be
co-owner of a firm, ARK Info Tech, registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission of Pakistan (SECP) besides running an Urdu-language centre. His wife
had told a neighbour a few days before the kidnappings that she worked as a
physiotherapist. His business partner, another Korean national, also lived
nearby.
Two policemen stand guard outside Juan’s place after he
and his family were taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency on
June 12, apparently for investigation by intelligence agencies and possible
deportation.
Investigators believe that Juan — as well as the Chinese
nationals — had violated the terms of their visas as they were involved in
preaching Christianity.
Quetta’s Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Abdul
Razzaque Cheema, told Dawn the Urdu language school was being used by Juan as a
front to conceal his evangelical activities. [Source]
Part of the plan is to link the South China Sea to the
Indian Ocean, according to the “Vision for Maritime Cooperation under the Belt
and Road Initiative”.
“Ocean cooperation will focus on building the
China-Indian Ocean-Africa- Mediterranean Sea Blue Economic Passage, by linking
the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor, running westward from the
South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, and connecting the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor
(BCIM-EC),” said the document released by official Xinhua news agency.
New Delhi has repeatedly objected to the CPEC because of
“sovereignty issues” as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This
was the primary reason why it boycotted the high-profile Belt and Road Forum
held in Beijing last month.
Though India is part of BCIM-EC, progress on developing
that corridor has been slow, partly because of New Delhi’s security concerns.
The document did not share details on how the land
corridors, such as CPEC and BCIM-EC, will be linked to the ocean but it was a
clear indication of China’s long-term plan. [Source]
Source: chinadigitaltimes.net
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