Friday, August 7, 2020
Why has the US abruptly turned against China?: Global Times editorial
Why has the US unexpectedly turned against China? Is there still room for China and the US to ease tensions and avoid an all-out confrontation?This is the most common sentiment among US political elites: The US has been in contact with China since the early 1970s, and has long believed that the market economy boom, brought by such contact, will eventually lead to the so-called political liberalization in China. However, they are completely disappointed now.
We believe such an explanation is the US elites' selective self-beautification, as well as their moral mobilization of the US and the Western world's confrontation with China.
The détente in the China-US relations started with former US president Richard Nixon's China visit in 1972 during the peak of the Cold War. The US, forced by the Cold War, had to take the initiative to approach China. At that time, China had a sharp ideological confrontation with the West. But the rapprochement of China-US relations reshaped the geopolitical structure of the Asia-Pacific region and affected the trend of the Cold War. This was Washington's true purpose.
After China's reform and opening-up in late 1970s, China and the US formed a wide range of contacts. But until the end of the 1980s, the US' biggest consideration for China had been using China's power to accumulate bargaining chips against the Soviet Union.
After the end of the Cold War and throughout the 1990s, Washington's strategic focus was to digest its achievements during the Cold War. China, as an emerging market, attracted the huge interest from the US during that period. The US conservative elites have never given up hostility toward China, but the huge potential of the Chinese market prevented the spread of such hostility.
After the US' counter-terror war, the sense of major power competition was strengthened again in the US. China's rise has gradually reached the critical point of US strategic tolerance. The Trump administration considers China the US' largest strategic competitor. US policy toward China has undergone a fundamental reversion.
The US never faced a country like China before - a huge country with rapid development and unlimited potential. Washington's political elites are panicking. Their Cold War mentality has been fully mobilized. The US' hegemonic interests have been placed in an overwhelming position in the China-US relations, and the two countries' huge economic interests have been relegated to the back seat. It seems the US has suddenly returned to the 20th century.
China also has no experience in interacting with the world hegemony. In the face of the US' fierceness, should we try to calm it down, or should we do our own thing well and counterattack? This is what we need to explore.
However, we believe China's overall innocence will affect the development of the situation for a long time to come. That China is growing into a major country is driven by Chinese people's desire to get rid of poverty and become prosperous. It is not a conspiracy campaign to overthrow the US. China's military development is also in line with its expanding strategic risks and its need to protect national interests. China is still a strategically defensive country without any ambition to expand. Our "toughness" is a strategy to protect our core interests, not to reset the world order.
The US has seriously misjudged China's strategic motives. China is a huge society, and internal affairs have been the country's focus of governance. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the core force leading the Chinese people to fulfill arduous tasks. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC held in 2012, the anti-corruption campaign has profoundly changed the style of government, the information industry has brought convenience, and China has also taken steps in new countryside construction, and fairness and justice. China has also adequately put the COVID-19 epidemic under control. This is the period when China's politics is unprecedentedly stable.
The US has no ability to crush today's China, because China is already powerful enough but it does not take the dangerous road of expansion. Although China has ideologies different from those of some Western countries, it does not sow seeds of hatred. This is why the US has encountered resistance while trying to form an anti-China camp.
The US ruling team's understanding of US interests as well as China is outdated. It is the 21st century, rather than China, that they are fighting against. They will inevitably run up against the wall.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1195495.shtml
Four Baloch men abducted from Sindh and Balochistan
Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies have abducted at least four Baloch men from the Kech district in Balochistan and Sindh’s Khairpur district.
According to details, the Pakistani intelligence agencies and Sindh Rangers have raided a house in Mesali Goath area in Khairpur Sindh and abducted two brothers on Wednesday evening (04/08/2020).
The victims have been named as Kachi Khan Marri and Zamur Khan Marri, Baloch Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were forced to flee Balochistan due to continuous attacks by Pakistan military.
The Sindh Rangers has not informed the family of both brothers about their whereabouts and wellbeing.
It has been the modus operandi of the Pakistani intelligence agencies including ISI, MI, and the local authorities they once they abduct someone, they keep them incommunicado for several months without any legal representation.
Previously, the Sindh Rangers and Punjab police have abducted disappeared several Baloch IDPs belonging to Marri and Bugti tribes of Balochistan.
It must be recalled that on the eve of Eid the Punjab police had shot dead five previously abducted Bugti Baloch in Arabi Dabba near Rajanpur in a staged encounter.
Pro-freedom Baloch political parties including the Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) and the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) strongly condemned the brutal extrajudicial murder of the five Bugti Baloch by Punjab Police.
The Baloch Republican Party has also held protests in the UK, Germany and Greece to condemn the Rajanpur incident and highlight ongoing Pakistani state brutalities against Baloch people.
On Wednesday, Baloch and Sindhi human rights activists held a protest in Karachi and strongly condemned the killing of five Bugti Baloch in Rajapur by Punjab police.
The protesters have demanded full independent inquiry of the incident.
In another similar incident in Balochistan, the Pakistani security forces whisked away two Baloch youths during an offensive in district Kech, Balochistan in the early hours of Tuesday morning on the 4th of August.
The abducted youths have been identified as Mukhtar son of Majeed and Abdul Wahab son of Mullah Abdul Hakim residents of Menaz region of Buleda, district Kech.
The incessant disappearances in Balochistan continue unabated and in recent days, several persons including Waqar son of Hashim was abducted from Pidarak area of Ketch, Abdul Qaddos from Dasht and Wajid son of Muhammad, Muhammad Ali son of Wajid, Elahi Bakhsh son of Talaho were arrested and disappeared from Kolwah Balochistan.
Afghanistan: Extremism To Increase After Peace Process And Threaten Security – OpEd
By Saber AminiExtremism and terrorism are twin phenomena ,but unfortunately for years in Afghanistan we fight against terrorists with no plan against extremists, where extremism is a preparatory (radical thoughts) but terrorism is the practice of violence act. Extremism is a ground for terrorism. Extremism appears first in the form of some very radical ideology which opposes to the acceptable laws, norms of the society, government and foundations, then extremism turns to the terrorism. Therefore, to break the cycle of violence, efforts to counter- extremism should be done simultaneously while countering- terrorism. When the government increased joint Afghan-US military operations, we had seen some positive result in fight against terrorists group like Al Qaeda and Daesh branch of Khurasan but extremism is still active in the country. The Daesh branch of Khurasan in North of Afghanistan claimed to gain the territory and want to make their own government in Khurasan (part of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan) but after their military defeat in North and East the establishment of Wilayah Khurasan remains a part of propaganda that Daesh continues to push. As Afghan and US governments announced new approach of peace process with Taliban the concerns increased regarding extremism in the country. Taliban fighters in Khogiani district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Since 2011, Qatar has hosted Taliban leaders who have moved there to discuss peace in Afghanistan. In 2014 US and NATO ended their combat mission in Afghanistan, staying only to train Afghan forces (RS) so, the message was clear; both Afghan and US government announced there is no military solution to end war in Afghanistan. Finally, US and Taliban signed the peace agreement in Doha, Qatar in February 2020 that mentioned US government should decrease their forces and Taliban accepted refraining from using the Afghan territory against US. Meanwhile, the intra-Afghan peace process is on the way and the government selected the team to start negotiation with Taliban and agreed to release 5000 prisoners of Taliban. So far, two important points increase extremism in Afghanistan: First, in Doha, while the Taliban accepted refraining from the use of the Afghan territory against US and other countries, however they did not mention stopping extremism and terrorist acts in Afghanistan. Therefore, Taliban have open hand to continue their terrorist attacks against Afghan national defense and security forces. As per national Security Council report which announced on 22 June 2020 Taliban killed at least 41 Afghan defense and security forces each day. Second, the Taliban precondition for Afghan peace talks the government should release their prisoners and if the peace process succeeds a large number of Taliban fighters will return to cities with their radical ideology. In the absence of intervention strategies, it is without doubt that both the Taliban prisoners and Taliban Fighters will continue their extremist’ path in Afghanistan and It is plausible, these extremists may gradually transform into domestic terrorist group or join regional terrorist groups. Furthermore they can cross the Afghan borders and operate on an international level. Releasing the Taliban prisoners with no monitoring system and rehabilitation programs can prove a large strategic threat in the long run. Then returning of Taliban fighters from battlefield with their radical ideology to cities will increase the concerns regarding heightened extremism in the country and will as a result threaten national, regional and international security. As mentioned above counter- extremism should be addressed simultaneously with countering – terrorism. We need to develop the firm monitoring system and rehabilitation programs for extremists especially for Taliban prisoners and their fighters. A strong legal framework against extremism is a necessary step forward because we can`t fight against extremism when there is no criminal responsibility for acts, which are characterized as extremist. https://www.eurasiareview.com/07082020-afghanistan-extremism-to-increase-after-peace-process-and-threaten-security-oped/
New China-Pakistan Axis Undermines U.S. in Afghanistan, Strengthens Uighur Persecution
By Paul D. Shinkman
The new relationship is the culmination of a series of previously unreported moves, designed to help China exploit its economic investments in Afghanistan while also stifling outcry over its persecution of the Uighur minority Muslim population near China's western border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A previously unreported intelligence arrangement between Beijing and Islamabad reveals increasingly potent influence in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region.
CHINA AND PAKISTAN HAVE begun an unprecedented intelligence-sharing arrangement in an attempt to secure Beijing's influence in Afghanistan at the expense of the American government, U.S. News has learned.
The timing of the new relationship has become deeply consequential as President Donald Trump intensifies his designs to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. It has created new concerns among American intelligence officials, who believe China will capitalize on ongoing problems in the administration's effort to secure a peace deal with the Taliban and that Beijing will further expand its influence into other contested parts of the region.
"The reality is now dawning within the intelligence community," says a source familiar with a U.S. assessment who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We are now leaving Afghanistan, but who are we leaving it to?"
In a seemingly unprecedented move, China has granted the Pakistani Defense Ministry access to one of the most secretive gatherings within its military infrastructure as a show of good faith. Little is known about the Joint Staff Department within China's elite Central Military Commission, including who attends, but access has historically been limited only to senior Chinese leaders. However, as a part of Beijing's realization it needs Pakistan's experience in neighboring Afghanistan as well as Islamabad's connections to the insurgent groups operating there who will determine the war-torn country's fate, it has invited a Pakistani general to sit in on its highly restricted meetings as an observer.
Working together, China and Pakistan have secured pledges from Taliban leaders not to provide safe haven or support to their fellow Muslim Uighurs from neighboring western China who have become a central concern of Beijing's. The arrangement far exceeds any accommodation the Afghan insurgent network has ever afforded the U.S. with regard to Washington's concerns about al-Qaida presence in Afghanistan.
These revelations are a part of a new U.S. intelligence assessment detailed for U.S. News with wide-reaching implications, including granting China a strategic – and deadly – advantage in other regional aspirations, principally its ongoing border dispute with India, Pakistan's chief rival.
Neither the Pakistani nor the Chinese governments responded to requests for comment about the arrangement or how it could affect future relations with the U.S.
Current U.S. government officials and analysts who spoke with U.S. News described how closely Pakistan fits into China's ambitions for its southern and western border regions, and that shifting priorities in Beijing necessitate more cooperation than before with a limited number of outside countries.
"If the Chinese are bringing Pakistan more 'behind the curtain,' in terms of intelligence and military cooperation, it will be tailored to their common interests like confronting India over territorial disputes," says Vikram Singh, a former top official at the Pentagon for South and Southeast Asian affairs, now senior adviser at the U.S. Institute of Peace's Asia Center. "Pakistan's leadership has really backed China on Uighur internment, even though Pakistanis are upset by the repression of Muslims in Xinjiang."
And the idea of new intelligence sharing is not unprecedented. The New York Times reported earlier this month that China and Iran created a new military and economic pact, to include new forms of collaboration on intelligence.
Though Pakistan's alliance with China is not new, the latest developments represent a dramatic escalation of the partnership in recent years. And they follow tensions with the Obama and Trump administrations that spiked in 2018 when long-standing American concerns tumbled into public view, centering on Islamabad's support for the same terrorist networks that the U.S. was trying to defeat in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan at the time pledged to cease intelligence sharing with the U.S., and Washington said it would cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan. At that time, Chinese President Xi Jinping felt mounting pressure regarding the economic investments China had made in Afghanistan in prior years – principally in mineral wealth costing billions of dollars but left largely inaccessible due to the ongoing violence there. Beijing also faced surging condemnation globally for its attempts to clamp down on the Uighurs, native to the part of Xinjiang province in western China that Beijing considers a threat to its unilateral control of the vast nation.
Uighur extremists have previously looked to the Taliban in Afghanistan as a potential source of support for an insurgent campaign against Beijing. China's latest moves have all but ensured that will not take place. And they follow other military adventures there – Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told a small group of reporters in December shortly after visiting the region that China has deployed a battalion of troops across its border into a narrow sliver of land connecting to Afghanistan's extreme northeast as a part of an experiment in working with local forces to determine if future direct partnerships are possible.
Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have marginally improved in recent years, not in the least due to Islamabad's participation in U.S.-led negotiations with the Taliban over a shaky peace deal. However, U.S. intelligence now assesses that Pakistan believes it can manipulate its relationship with the Americans in a way it cannot with its gargantuan northern neighbor. Indeed, China's partnership with Pakistan is not limited to enticing it into cooperation. Beijing has also gained significant economic leverage over Pakistan through its Belt and Road Initiative, including projects to create new transportation networks through the country to its southerly coast, known as the Chinese-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which Beijing sorely needs to maintain shipping access to its economic interests in and around the Indian Ocean.
China also benefits from Pakistan's insights on other regional concerns. U.S. intelligence officials noticed that Chinese forces had a greater understanding than before into Indian troop positions and movements ahead of the deadly border clash on June 15. The officials believe Pakistan's military leadership likely shared their intelligence assessments of the Indian army's disposition with their Chinese counterparts. This comes as China has used its influential position within the U.N. to support Pakistan's claims on the contested region of Kashmir amid new forcefulness from India.The arrangement appears to have also worked in muzzling Pakistan over China's more provocative actions in recent months. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has shown particular discipline in not criticizing China about its treatment of the Uighurs – a notable achievement in that Pakistan is a principally Muslim nation. The U.S. assessment reflects a belief that his silence serves as a critical component of Beijing's attempts to appear legitimate in its treatment of that ethnic sect.
In response to a detailed question last year about his silence, Khan hinted at a new understanding with Beijing. "With the Chinese, we have a special relationship. And – it's the way China functions – any issues like these we talk to them privately, we don't make public statements, because that's how China is," Khan said during an event organized by the Council on Foreign Relations in September.
Khan referenced the series of bailouts China afforded his country shortly after he became prime minister amid an economic crisis in 2018.
"China came to help when we were right at the rock bottom," he said.
May marked the 69th anniversary of Pakistan and China's formal diplomatic ties. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry described the occasion to say the relationship remains "firm as a rock."
https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2020-08-06/new-china-pakistan-axis-undermines-us-in-afghanistan-strengthens-uighur-persecution
Imran Khan’s Pakistan might end up regretting its new ‘political map’. Here is why
Shishir GuptaPM Imran Khan’s new political map sounds the death knell to the self-determination movement among separatists in Kashmir as it leaves no scope for a plebiscite, or to sell the dream of an independent Kashmir. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to unveil the so-called new ‘political map’ of Pakistan by including the entire erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Junagadh in Gujarat may be an exercise to appease the domestic political sentiments but the move is fraught with serious implications. And none of them are good for Pakistan. Such maps were published in 1947-48 when Mohammed Ali Jinnah was Pakistan’s first governor general. But the Islamic Republic had to rework the map that then had also included East Pakistan or the present day Bangladesh. The so-called new political map released by PM Imran Khan sounds a death knell to the self-determination movement among separatists in Kashmir Valley as Islamabad has now co-opted Jammu and Kashmir, leaving no space for either plebiscite or independent Kashmir. This does not come as a surprise to Kashmir watchers in New Delhi as both self-determination and so-called freedom struggle was a ruse for cross border terror activities. By showing the northern areas of Gilgit-Baltistan as part of Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad’s promise of greater autonomy to this mountainous region stands nullified as the region has been merged with predominantly Sunni regions of Mirpur and Muzaffarabad as also the Valley. However, the impact of PM Khan’s cartographic hallucination on India-Pakistan ties is very significant. By reopening the 1947-48 maps, Pakistan has given up on bilateralism of 1972 Shimla Agreement and 1999 Lahore Declaration - the two agreements that committed both nations to resolving bilateral disputes bilaterally - and paved a way for unilateralism. Does Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’ also want to give up other bilateral pacts too? Like the bilateral 1960 Indus Water Treaty that allows waters of Indus, Chenab and Jhelum to be used by Pakistan while allocating Beas, Ravi and Sutlej waters to India? While the Indian government has dismissed the new Pakistan map as a “political absurdity”, the map opens up the route for unilateralism by India should it choose to invoke it in future as Islamabad has indulged in unilateralism by issuing a new map that depicts territories firmly under Indian control as Pakistani territory. But the map is also telling commentary about Pakistan’s relationship with its ‘iron brother’ China that has been engaged in a standoff with India for the last three months in East Ladakh. PM Khan, who is often accused of reducing Pakistan as a client-state of Xi Jinping’s China, has not only kept Shaksgam Valley and Aksai Chin out of its cartographic expansion but also left this frontier undefined to let China draw the line on the map. It is quite evident that Pakistan has followed Nepal. Kathmandu had issued a map to emphasise its illegal claims on Lipulekh, Limiyadhura and Kalapani in India’s Uttarakhand on 21 May 2020. It is not mere coincidence that both Pakistan and Nepal are close allies of Beijing with the latter pumping in money in form of infrastructure aid to prop up both regimes. Although India has no desire to either expand its territorial claims or give up on bilateralism vis-a-vis Pakistan, the map reflects the frustration within the Imran Khan government over its inability to get the international community to side with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year. Pakistan watchers also see the move as a response to the rise of India in the comity of nations, particularly after the Indian troopers stood up to an aggressive People’s Liberation Army in Ladakh, particularly the bloody clash at Galwan on June 15. The larger question on how to deal with India is part of regular interlocution between foreign offices of China and Pakistan.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/imran-khan-s-new-political-map-will-backfire-on-pakistan-here-is-why/story-6PhKeCSkiproZshBGypkEI.html
Why Pakistan blames Saudi Arabia and the OIC for Kashmir setback
Angered by Indian belligerence, Islamabad wants Muslims countries to do more in highlighting the plight of Kashmiri Muslims. Experts say, however, its own response is lacking.August 5 was a tense day in the Indian subcontinent. Amid the chants of Hindu religious slogans, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a temple at a disputed holy site in the northern Ayodhya city.
In video footage and photographs, Modi was seen pressing his forehead to the ground and performing religious rites during the ceremony. The temple is being built atop a site where the 16th century Babri Masjid (mosque) once stood.
Hindu extremists had demolished the mosque in 1992, sparking communal riots in which hundreds of people - mostly Muslims - were killed. For years, Indian Muslims fought a legal battle to rebuild it. Last year, an Indian court handed it over to the Hindus.
It is not just the temple, named Ram, that has angered the Muslims. The inauguration took place on the first anniversary of the abrogation of Indian administered Kashmir’s nominal autonomy. The scenic Himalyan region of Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, which the latter also partly controls. However, India-administered Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority state in the country of 1.2 billion people. As well as this, Kashmiri Muslims fear Modi’s ruling Hindu natiionalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to alter demographics by turning Muslims into a minority.
“Basically, with the events coinciding, India is trying to say it doesn’t fear anyone anymore,” says Dr Shaista Tabassum, a Karachi-based international relations expert. “This is happening at a time when Pakistan is seriously lacking in its response. I’m not even sure if we even have a concrete policy to deal with the Kashmir issue.”
A brotherhood no more
In this context, it came as a surprise when on the same day, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, expressed frustration over the response of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Saudi Arabia on the human rights violations in IAK.
“I am once again respectfully telling OIC that a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers is our expectation. If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris,” he said in Urdu on a TV talk show. When the show’s host asked if that meant a move forward, except without Saudi Arabia, Qureshi said Islamabad will proceed “with or without” its oil-rich Arab backer. The next day, Pakistan’s foreign office reaffirmed the minister's statement, saying it reflects the “aspirations” of Pakistani people.
Pakistan has for months pushed the 57-member grouping, based in the Saudi city of Jeddah, to call a meeting of top Muslim diplomats. The move, though, has been blocked by Saudi Arabia.
Qureshi’s comment coincided with news that Pakistan has prematurely repaid a $1 billion loan to Riyadh, something that has given billions of dollars in loans to Islamabad to boost its foreign currency reserves and avert a balance of payments crisis.
“It’s certainly possible that Pakistan will participate in a meeting about Kashmir outside of the OIC framework,” says Rupert Stone, a Middle East analyst, adding that a forum of Muslim leaders that met in Malaysia last year can be an option.
In December 2019, Imran Khan faced embarrassment as he backed out of a meeting of Muslim leaders in Kuala Lumpur under Saudi pressure.
That summit was attended by leaders from Iran, Malaysia, Qatar and Turkey - these are countries that have openly come out in support of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
At the same time, the Saudis and Emiratis have reinforced economic and diplomatic ties with Modi’s government.
The Saudis gave a muted response when Modi’s government changed the status of Kashmir last year, and the UAE brushed it under the carpet, saying it was India’s “internal matter”.
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Zayed Al Nahyan conferred the highest civilian award to Modi who had just days earlier unilaterally decided to strip disputed Kashmir its special status and enforced a communications lockdown.
“The Kuala Lumpur summit seemingly pressured the OIC into taking a more proactive stance on Kashmir, showing it is a useful mechanism for raising the issue,” says Stone.
Experts say, however, that Pakistan would ultimately end up fighting for Kashmir itself.
On its own
This week Imran Khan also unveiled a new ‘political map’ of Pakistan. The new map identifies IAK as disputed territory and states that a decision on the final status of the region will be decided under resolutions of the UN Security Council.
International relations expert, Tabassum, wonders why it took Islamabad an entire year to conjure up a map which clearly delineates its boundaries.
“Imran Khan could have shown it to the world when he spoke at the UN General Assembly last year.”
India has successfully mobilised international opinion against Kashmiris who are fighting for their right to self determination, she says. “Anything that Pakistan does is now painted as cross-border terrorism.”
Islamabad has historically maintained that militancy in Indian-controlled Kashmir is an expression of frustration on part of the locals who have for decades aspired to be part of Pakistan. Khalid Rahman, the executive president of Islamabad-based think tank, the Institute of Policy Studies, says Pakistan must be a “bit more aggressive” on its Kashmir stance. “Pakistan has a very strong case as Kashmiris themselves are not ready to accept Indian rule. We should be blatant in telling the world that all the options are on the table,” he says, adding that over the years Pakistan has invested heavily in its armed forces.
“Diplomatic nuance on one side but when Indian leadership is threatening you at the highest level, when it's violating the borders and when it's a matter of survival, talk alone will not solve the problem.”
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-pakistan-blames-saudi-arabia-and-the-oic-for-kashmir-setback-38727
Pakistan Concerned For Muslims In Kashmir But Apathetic Towards Chinese Uighur Muslims
But even amid a harsh crackdown on the Uighur population in China’s Xinjiang region, Pakistan PM Imran Khan has refused to be drawn into the domestic affairs of Pakistan’s long-time ally and focussed on Kashmir.Even as Pakistan this week drew international attention to the plight of Muslims in Indian Kashmir, Islamabad stayed conspicuously silent about another embattled Muslim community — China’s Uighur population. PM Imran Khan has presented himself as a defender of Muslims worldwide and routinely speaks out on the disputed Kashmir region, even comparing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Adolf Hitler and accusing him of overseeing a genocide. “We will never accept, and neither will the Kashmiris, the illegal Indian actions and oppression of the Kashmiri people,” Khan said Wednesday as Pakistan marked the one-year anniversary of India stripping the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomous status. This week he led a march through Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as thousands took to the streets across the country. But even amid mounting evidence of a harsh crackdown on the Uighur population in neighbouring China’s Xinjiang region, Khan has refused to be drawn into the domestic affairs of Pakistan’s long-time ally. Rights groups estimate more than one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities have been rounded up into a network of internment camps, which China has branded “re-education centres”. Both Kashmiris and Uighurs have been subjected to curfews, profiling, and a massive presence of security forces along with moves to allow outsiders to settle in their homelands. “Silence on Uighurs will also cost Pakistan credibility on the Kashmir issue,” columnist Huma Yusuf wrote in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper. “Khan has previously argued that the scale of the two issues is different. But this argument will not be enough if Pakistan wants to be perceived as a genuine champion of Muslims’ and human rights when speaking on Kashmir.” Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the US-based Wilson Center, said such criticism was “justifiable”. “Pakistan should be held to a higher standard because it accords so much bandwidth and policy space to the plight of Kashmiri Muslims as well as Indian Muslims, while saying nothing about Uighurs,” Kugelman said. ‘Grateful to China’ Pakistan and India have clashed over Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947, with both countries claiming the territory that has sparked two full-blown wars between the foes. China meanwhile has steadily poured cash into Pakistan, investing more than $50 billion as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that has upgraded infrastructure, power and transport links connecting Xinjiang to Pakistan’s newly refurbished Gwadar port. China has also offered steadfast diplomatic support to Pakistan during its frequent bouts of unrest with India. “Pakistan sees China as its principal supporter against India and is unwilling to say or do anything that disrupts ties with Beijing,” Husain Haqqani — Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US who is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute — told AFP. When asked about the Uighurs, Khan has wafted between citing unfamiliarity with the issue and defending Pakistan’s vital relationship China. “China has helped us when we were at rock bottom. We are really grateful to the Chinese government, so we have decided that any issues we have had with China we will handle privately,” Khan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. Pakistan’s silence on the Uighurs is not unique in the Islamic world. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia and the country’s de facto leader, has also defended China, saying he respected Beijing’s “anti-terrorism” efforts. Turkey has also toned down criticism on the issue. Analysts say Khan and future Pakistani leaders are unlikely to change course. “Because Pakistan’s population doesn’t know much about and doesn’t feel strongly about the Uighur issue, the state insulates itself from charges of hypocrisy,” said Madiha Afzal, a Brookings Institution fellow. “On the other hand, Kashmir is an issue of visceral importance to many Pakistanis, and central to Pakistan’s conflict with India — as such, the Pakistani state is almost expected by its people to raise its voice.” https://eurasiantimes.com/kashmir-or-uighur-pakistan-concerned-for-kashmiri-muslims-but-ignoring-chinas-uighur-muslims/
Colonizing Balochistan – Chinese Investments in Pakistan Spreads Outrage In Poverty-Stricken Balochistan
Despite heavy investments by China, Balochistan toils in poverty and remains largely underdeveloped. The recent decision by Pakistan to allow a Chinese mining company to extend its lease for another 15 years has been met with anger.
Ethnic Balochis have expressed their anger about the Chinese ‘Colonizer’ projects in Balochistan permitted by the Government Pakistan. The ethnic Balochis believe that Pakistan and China are exploiting resources in the region in a bid to colonize the province.Despite heavy investments by China, Balochistan toils in poverty and remains largely underdeveloped. The recent decision by Pakistan to allow a Chinese mining company to extend its lease for another 15 years has been met with anger. They accuse Beijing of expropriating their province’s mineral resources. Saindak copper-gold mine, located near Saindak in Balochistan’s Chagai district, has been cleared for a lease running till 2035. The Chinese company – MCC Resources Development Company will invest $45 million to explore copper and gold in the East Ore Body area of the town where 278 million tons of deposits are estimated. Anger amongst ethnic Balochis and separatists stems from the neglect of Balochistan. The province remains Pakistan’s poorest and least populous province despite several development projects announced by Pakistan and China.
In response, the Balochi separatists have waged a guerilla war against the ‘occupants’. They have accused the successive government of benefiting from Balochistan’s resources and making the rich Punjab province even richer. Insurgency continues till the day, with the most recent attack resulting in the death of numerous Pakistani soldiers.
Islamabad blames India for training and funding the Baloch Republic Army (BLA), a separatist group that has handed several setbacks to Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan even blamed the recent attack on Pakistani Stock Exchange in Karachi on India.
Colonizing Balochistan
Brahamdagh Bugti, leader of the Baloch Republican Party living in exile in Switzerland, and grandson of slain nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, says that Chinese economic projects in Balochistan were aimed at “colonizing” the province, and must be resisted.
‘’None of the previous development projects in Balochistan have ever been beneficial to the province or its people,” Bugti said. “We have been complaining for decades that Islamabad has never sought the consent of the Baloch people before initiating these projects.’’
’It is quite obvious that they are not launched to boost the province’s economy or to help people out of poverty. They are started for the benefit of the rulers in Islamabad,” he added. Speaking to Deutsche Welle (DW), Senator Akram Baloch said that the Islamabad is giving contracts to Beijing without taking the Baloch people into confidence, to appease China.
Despite Chinese investments, Balochistan remains extremely poor with no proper health facilities, education, and housing, or even clean drinking water,” Baloch said.”The alleged plundering of resources will further stoke anti-Chinese feelings in the province,” he added.Balochistan’s former chief minister, Abdul Malik also told DW that the province is not getting its due share of royalties from these projects. Independent researchers in Balochistan have also backed these claims and say that locals are not benefiting from the Pakistan-China collaborative projects.
Why is Chinese Investment Important?
Beijing has been an all-weather ally in Islamabad and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a testament to their friendship.
As reported by EurAsian Times earlier, the $46 billion CPEC aims to expand Chinese influence in Pakistan and across Central and South Asia to counter US and Indian influence. The CPEC would link Pakistan’s southern Gwadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China’s western Xinjiang region.
Supporters of CPEC in Balochistan claim that the project has brought in much needed foreign investment and generated employment in the region.
Ashfaq Hassan, a member of PM Imran Khan’s Economic Council, says that Anti-Pakistan elements are spreading false allegations against China. He feels that Chinese investment will help Pakistan’s economy that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
With a debt of over $100 billion (€87 billion), the South Asian country is on the verge of an economic collapse. Coronavirus has rendered more than 20 million people unemployed as over 1,000 private and public sector institutions have closed their operations since March.
https://eurasiantimes.com/chinese-investments-in-pakistan-spreads-fear-of-colonizing-balochistan/
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