By: Azhar Azam
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2019-10-12/CPEC-hasn-t-slowed-down-isn-t-a-debt-trap-or-sovereignty-threat-KJ3EIzBFT2/index.html
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan hailed from an affluent family background and spent most of his peak years in Australia and England, however his vision to pull the millions out of poverty fascinated many Pakistanis to guide him through the top constitutional position in the country.
Khan is a great admirer of China, particularly the way Beijing lifted over 700 people out of poverty. He has always extoled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s provident Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its Pakistani limb China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that aims to enhance regional connectivity, shared growth, and deepen the bilateral relationship.
In November 2018, the former cricketer and chancellor of University of Bradford, an author, a philanthropist, and finally a politician made his pioneer trip to China and expressed his desire to learn from the Chinese poverty alleviation model. During his visit, both the sides reviewed CPEC projects and uttered their satisfaction on its rapid progress.
Earlier this year, Khan again reached Beijing to participate in the 2nd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) and accentuated that BRI was a model of partnership, connectivity, and shared prosperity. Adding that Pakistan was one of the earnest and aflame BRI proponents, Khan piquantly endorsed CPEC and conceded that the fate-changer project had critically plugged the energy and infrastructure gaps in his country.
Just before he was set to make his third ride to Beijing in less than a year, a systemic campaign was deliberately launched to malign China-Pakistan relations by spreading the forged news about slowing down of CPEC by Pakistan to placate the US or China had halted its mega development plan’s headway over frustration of corruption allegations.
While Pakistan straightforwardly repulsed the murmurs that CPEC projects were decelerated over its alleged renewed engagements with the US and IMF, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing also derided the media reports avowing that CPEC was laid on solid foundation and “there is no slowdown in it.”
Prime Minister Khan forcefully toned down the libeled campaign by instituting a CPEC Authority that was purely meant for speeding up the CPEC-related activities in Pakistan. The establishment of an exclusive authority followed another landmark decision that granted 23-year tax concessions to the Chinese operators of Gwadar port and its free zone.
Amid thawing economic conditions and drying-up foreign exchange reserves, CPEC is the rare hope for Pakistan’s economy that has derived the largest foreign investments in the annals of country’s history. While it was entering into new phase of socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, agricultural cooperation, and industrial development – Khan’s ultimate China dream – accusing Pakistan for putting brakes on the momentous project was categorically farcical.
Job creation and poverty mitigation were two of the vital promises Khan had pledged to his nation while he was making inroads into Pakistan’s power corridors. During his fierce election canvassing, he had frequently quoted China as his role model for jettisoning poverty and opening-up new employment opportunities in Pakistan. So it was highly implausible for him to hold up the CPEC when it was getting onto a stage where Khan could have effectively realized his ambition.
The indictment stands annulled also because China has vowed to make Gwadar more valuable than Karachi – Pakistan’s premier industrial and financial hub – by making the coastal city the single largest contributor to the country’s national economic output.
Within the next seven years, Gwadar will provide roughly 47,000 jobs for the locals and would charm billions of dollars in investments whereas independent international organizations have also estimated that CPEC could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in Pakistan by 2030.
Fears about Pakistan suspending CPEC projects are out of question at this time, even if it was to appease US. In fact, Khan has recurrently ruled out any doubts about Pakistan getting into Chinese “debt trap”, being challenged its sovereignty, and slowing down of BRI’s crown jewel.
When provoked in his recent conversation with Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) to speak up against Chinese “debt trap” and how Pakistan would “retain its full sovereignty” after allowing China to operate on such a large scale – Khan bluntly said when we rose into power “China really helped us when we were right at the rock bottom.”
“They (China) helped…supported…by giving us fund for foreign exchange reserves…China has given us a preferential trade agreement where we can export to China at the same terms as the ASEAN countries.” Khan further stressed that China have never, ever interfered in Pakistan’s foreign policy and it was one country which the world could learn from.
During Khan’s recently concluded tour to Beijing, Chinese president rebranded the China-Pakistan relations “rock-solid and unbreakable” irrespective of regional and international environments. This was a renewed China’s willingness to push the unique relationship between the two countries to the new heights.
The Pakistan-China Joint Press Release, in which China reiterated that Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history and reciprocally Pakistan’s reaffirmation that Hong Kong is China’s internal matter and no country should intervene in internal affairs of China, tells how deeply the two nations are tied into an one-off and profound relationship.
Above all, Pakistan’s emphasis that CPEC was a transformational project, thorough assurance to the expeditious implementation of its projects, bilateral agreement to promote industrial and socio-economic development in the second phase of CPEC, underscoring the grant of various facilities to Gwadar port, and the common vision to speedily execute CPEC into a high-quality demonstration project of BRI completely deactivated the vile campaign that strived to scar the shatterproof China-Pakistan relations.
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2019-10-12/CPEC-hasn-t-slowed-down-isn-t-a-debt-trap-or-sovereignty-threat-KJ3EIzBFT2/index.html
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan hailed from an affluent family background and spent most of his peak years in Australia and England, however his vision to pull the millions out of poverty fascinated many Pakistanis to guide him through the top constitutional position in the country.
Khan is a great admirer of China, particularly the way Beijing lifted over 700 people out of poverty. He has always extoled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s provident Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its Pakistani limb China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that aims to enhance regional connectivity, shared growth, and deepen the bilateral relationship.
In November 2018, the former cricketer and chancellor of University of Bradford, an author, a philanthropist, and finally a politician made his pioneer trip to China and expressed his desire to learn from the Chinese poverty alleviation model. During his visit, both the sides reviewed CPEC projects and uttered their satisfaction on its rapid progress.
Earlier this year, Khan again reached Beijing to participate in the 2nd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) and accentuated that BRI was a model of partnership, connectivity, and shared prosperity. Adding that Pakistan was one of the earnest and aflame BRI proponents, Khan piquantly endorsed CPEC and conceded that the fate-changer project had critically plugged the energy and infrastructure gaps in his country.
Just before he was set to make his third ride to Beijing in less than a year, a systemic campaign was deliberately launched to malign China-Pakistan relations by spreading the forged news about slowing down of CPEC by Pakistan to placate the US or China had halted its mega development plan’s headway over frustration of corruption allegations.
While Pakistan straightforwardly repulsed the murmurs that CPEC projects were decelerated over its alleged renewed engagements with the US and IMF, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing also derided the media reports avowing that CPEC was laid on solid foundation and “there is no slowdown in it.”
Prime Minister Khan forcefully toned down the libeled campaign by instituting a CPEC Authority that was purely meant for speeding up the CPEC-related activities in Pakistan. The establishment of an exclusive authority followed another landmark decision that granted 23-year tax concessions to the Chinese operators of Gwadar port and its free zone.
Amid thawing economic conditions and drying-up foreign exchange reserves, CPEC is the rare hope for Pakistan’s economy that has derived the largest foreign investments in the annals of country’s history. While it was entering into new phase of socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, agricultural cooperation, and industrial development – Khan’s ultimate China dream – accusing Pakistan for putting brakes on the momentous project was categorically farcical.
Job creation and poverty mitigation were two of the vital promises Khan had pledged to his nation while he was making inroads into Pakistan’s power corridors. During his fierce election canvassing, he had frequently quoted China as his role model for jettisoning poverty and opening-up new employment opportunities in Pakistan. So it was highly implausible for him to hold up the CPEC when it was getting onto a stage where Khan could have effectively realized his ambition.
The indictment stands annulled also because China has vowed to make Gwadar more valuable than Karachi – Pakistan’s premier industrial and financial hub – by making the coastal city the single largest contributor to the country’s national economic output.
Within the next seven years, Gwadar will provide roughly 47,000 jobs for the locals and would charm billions of dollars in investments whereas independent international organizations have also estimated that CPEC could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in Pakistan by 2030.
Fears about Pakistan suspending CPEC projects are out of question at this time, even if it was to appease US. In fact, Khan has recurrently ruled out any doubts about Pakistan getting into Chinese “debt trap”, being challenged its sovereignty, and slowing down of BRI’s crown jewel.
When provoked in his recent conversation with Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) to speak up against Chinese “debt trap” and how Pakistan would “retain its full sovereignty” after allowing China to operate on such a large scale – Khan bluntly said when we rose into power “China really helped us when we were right at the rock bottom.”
“They (China) helped…supported…by giving us fund for foreign exchange reserves…China has given us a preferential trade agreement where we can export to China at the same terms as the ASEAN countries.” Khan further stressed that China have never, ever interfered in Pakistan’s foreign policy and it was one country which the world could learn from.
During Khan’s recently concluded tour to Beijing, Chinese president rebranded the China-Pakistan relations “rock-solid and unbreakable” irrespective of regional and international environments. This was a renewed China’s willingness to push the unique relationship between the two countries to the new heights.
The Pakistan-China Joint Press Release, in which China reiterated that Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history and reciprocally Pakistan’s reaffirmation that Hong Kong is China’s internal matter and no country should intervene in internal affairs of China, tells how deeply the two nations are tied into an one-off and profound relationship.
Above all, Pakistan’s emphasis that CPEC was a transformational project, thorough assurance to the expeditious implementation of its projects, bilateral agreement to promote industrial and socio-economic development in the second phase of CPEC, underscoring the grant of various facilities to Gwadar port, and the common vision to speedily execute CPEC into a high-quality demonstration project of BRI completely deactivated the vile campaign that strived to scar the shatterproof China-Pakistan relations.