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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday December 27 2018, @05:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the didn't-see-that-one-coming dept.

China's 'Belt and Road' Plan in Pakistan Takes a Military Turn

When President Trump started the new year by suspending billions of dollars of security aid to Pakistan, one theory was that it would scare the Pakistani military into cooperating better with its American allies.

The reality was that Pakistan already had a replacement sponsor lined up.

Just two weeks later, the Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches on a secret proposal to expand Pakistan's building of Chinese military jets, weaponry and other hardware. The confidential plan, reviewed by The New York Times, would also deepen the cooperation between China and Pakistan in space, a frontier the Pentagon recently said Beijing was trying to militarize after decades of playing catch-up.

All those military projects were designated as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, a $1 trillion chain of infrastructure development programs stretching across some 70 countries, built and financed by Beijing.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said the Belt and Road is purely an economic project with peaceful intent. But with its plan for Pakistan, China is for the first time explicitly tying a Belt and Road proposal to its military ambitions — and confirming the concerns of a host of nations who suspect the infrastructure initiative is really about helping China project armed might.

Related: China's Xi Jinping Negotiates $46bn Superhighway to Pakistan
China Plans $503 Billion Investment in High-Speed Rail by 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping Pledges $124 Billion for One Belt, One Road Initiative
Gunmen Attack Chinese Consulate in Pakistan


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  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Thursday December 27 2018, @08:17PM (6 children)

    by richtopia (3160) on Thursday December 27 2018, @08:17PM (#779093) Homepage Journal

    Pakistan was one of the first nations to recognize the PRC and the relationship has always been close:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China–Pakistan_relations [wikipedia.org]

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Thursday December 27 2018, @11:09PM

    by cubancigar11 (330) on Thursday December 27 2018, @11:09PM (#779159) Homepage Journal

    So was India. Those were the days when the term 'third world' was being coined by J L Nehru [wikipedia.org] for countries unwilling to participate in cold-war and pick either side. Unfortunately, there was a border dispute between China and India (thanks to the British) and they had a war [wikipedia.org], which didn't really change anything.* There was a border dispute between Pakistan and India too (thank the British for that too, thank you) and Pakistan and China had that one too. Pakistan smartly decided to simply hand-over that land to China because it was populated by non-Muslim population anyway.

    Pakistan and China have a thicker relationship than Pakistan and USA, one thickened by supplying nuclear technology. Pakistan is an integral part of China's string of pearl [wikipedia.org] strategy.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 27 2018, @11:57PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 27 2018, @11:57PM (#779170)

    I'm puzzled, I thought that China was working hard to eradicate Islam in their western provinces (re-education camps, religious leaders disappearing, etc)? But just south of there is Pakistan (an Islamic state) and the two are allies? How does this work in the long term?

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @01:06AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @01:06AM (#779180)

      From what I guess, the authoritarians in control are cool with it, while insurgent groups are organizing terrorist attacks in Pakistan on Chinese and government targets.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @05:02AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @05:02AM (#779246)

      No doubt China will get around to eradicating them eventually. One step at a time.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @04:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @04:22PM (#779370)

      The Chinese don't give a rats arse about what happens within other countries. Only within their own territories.
      They're not interested in making the rest of the world conform to them.
      All the Chinese people I know (including family) are actually very big on the concept of obeying a foreign country's laws when in that country. This is actually "The Big TIff" that's happening betwen US + Chinese presidents. US wants to remain with special rules for them, which goes against the philosophy that I mentioned.
      Yes there are plenty of exceptions - there are a billion Chines nationals after all - but this is something that many of my language students have mentioned...they were taught this philosophy at school. They can get highly embarrassed at "The dumbass Chinese tourist" syndrome, whereas a Westerner would double down and defend the bad behaviour.

      So that's why they don't care about Islam in other countries..."Not Our Problem".

      Get to know some Chinese nationals. I think you would be pleasantly surprised at their tolerance of others. Chinese neighbours are great, they never bitch about your behaviour...because that's your territory, not theirs.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 29 2018, @08:32AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 29 2018, @08:32AM (#779626)

      America is in alliance with Saudis. Saudis and Israelis are closet crypto allies.