Aside from mistrust, the dearth of transparency and the Chinese tendency to shun locals have created resentment amongst the Pakistanis…reports Asian Lite News
The slow progress of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has reaffirmed the notion that increasing mistrust between the two countries is undermining the plan to build an economic corridor from Gwadar port on the Arabian coast to the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang, Policy Research Group (POREG) reported.
Aside from mistrust, the dearth of transparency and the Chinese tendency to shun locals have created resentment amongst the Pakistanis, who are expressing their ire through street protests and violence targeted at the Chinese. The POREG report said Pakistan is not helping its cause either with its inability to clear dues worth USD 300 billion to Chinese companies engaged in CPEC power projects.
Given the dismal state of existing projects, no new CPEC projects were announced during Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Beijing visit in November.
Besides the delay in the implementation of projects, the security of Chinese nationals remains another bone of contention. Moreover, this growing resentment in Pakistan is finding expression in the attacks on the Chinese and Chinese assets.
“The attacks are offering perfect cover to the Baloch nationalists to strike at will firstly to put the authorities on notice, and, secondly, to register their presence and their demands,” the POREG report added.
During Shehbaz’s China visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he is “highly concerned” about the safety of Chinese people in Pakistan and hoped that Islamabad will provide a “safe environment” for Chinese institutions and personnel.
The POREG report also said a change in the Pakistani government further impacted the progress of CPEC. “Several projects planned under the CPEC have been affected due to opposition by local residents. The projects were further affected when some Chinese nationals were killed in Pakistan,” it sai.
According to POREG, the scrapping of the CPEC authority may not lead to the scrapping CPEC itself but it will have repercussions in the CEPC like ventures the Chinese are running Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, elsewhere in the world.
Concern over security of workers
A Chinese company has written to the Sindh government that its workers are being threatened by armed persons and has requested security for them, reported Pak vernacular media Intekhab Daily.
The company is working in Malir on upgrading the grid station and the transmission lines. The company complained that the armed persons are demanding money from them and their sub-contractors and threatening them with dire consequences. They have demanded fool-proof security, reported Intekhab Daily.
The law and order in Sindh are far from satisfactory. The conditions point out neglect at the administrative and law-keeping machinery’s end, reported Pahenji Akhbar.
The most dangerous part is people have lost faith in the police and law-keeping institutions.
It is for institutions now as to how they move about to regain peoples’ trust in them and to end the growing crime rate in Sindh. If not checked, lawlessness will only push Sindh backward by years, reported Pahenji Akhbar.
Notably, amid the growing concerns over the safety and security of Chinese nationals working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, Pakistan and China had earlier agreed to use bullet-proof vehicles for all outdoor movement of Chinese workers.
“It has been decided that bullet-proof vehicles shall be used for all outdoor movements of the Chinese employed on projects,” said the draft minutes of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC, which Pakistan and China had exchanged, reported The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, terrorists attacked a check post in South Waziristan, reported Jang.
According to police sources, more than 50 terrorists attacked the city police station Wana and Baghicha check post last night.
Sources said one of the terrorists was killed in the clash and police took custody of his body.
Police sources say that an official has also been injured in the attack. Sources also said that the terrorists escaped after police and FC retaliated, reported Jang.
The law and order situation in KP has gone south over the last few weeks as an increase has been noticed in threats and attacks on security forces and high-profile political personalities.
According to a report published in The News, the police are on high alert across the province after the recent spike in attacks in areas including Peshawar, southern districts, and the Mardan region.
The publication cited a source, “Apart from the police, senior politicians have complained of receiving threats. The houses of some of them have also come under grenade attack.”
The wave of terrorist attacks has risen across the province in the last few months, the report said. At least 118 terrorist incidents were reported in KP from mid-August till the last week of November, according to official numbers.
At least 26 policemen, 12 personnel of other law enforcement agencies and 17 civilians were killed in terror incidents across the KP. Moreover, 18 policemen, 10 civilians, and 37 law enforcement agencies personnel suffered injuries in these attacks, reported Geo News.
A dozen districts, including Peshawar, Mardan, Bajaur, Mohmand, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Kohat, Bannu, and Nowshera came under attack in November. (ANI)