WITH CPEC, PAKISTAN RISKS CHINESE ANGER BY COURTING SAUDI ARABIA : SCMP

[khansaheeb]

Tom Hussain is not known for being fair. Most of what he's written in this article is guesswork.

Paid cow dung by Indian sponsors.

 

[Roybot]

There is utterly no doubt that Saudia is one USA's mosted trusted allies and plays pivotal role in US global policy. However Pakistani's have a very heightened sense of self worth. Dozen to the dime you will hear the expression "heaven on earth" with referance to the area of Pakistan they come from. Of course most of these idiots will never have set foot outside of their province let alone Pakistan but they croak "heaven on earth".

So it is with CPEC. Far too many Pakistani's think CPEC is going to be like a economic black hole that will suck the entire globe into it's incredible pull. The reality is while it is very, very significant to Pakistan but on the global pecking order it's pretty low. Therefore I don't see some grand scheme in all this.

CPEC will continue along the direction it was heading in under the new government. No doubt some tweaking will be done to make CPEC more amenable to PTI's vision but the fundamentels will remain. So I can't really see the need for dramatics about this. The strategic understanding and importance between Pak/China is too great and no matter what government it will broadly remain on track. Each new government will just give it's own thumbprint so as to 'own' it.

That is because you are seeing CPEC from a Pakistani perspective only. America is trying to build a narrative, a narrative about China exploiting countries and pushing them into debt. Be it Africa or Asia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius is the latest one.

CPEC being the biggest of the BRI projects, and Pakistan being one of the closest Chinese allies, its failure will substantiate this narrative. With a relatively honest and sincere government in Pakistan now, America no longer has the assets that it used to enjoy during Zardari and Sharif regime and this is where Saudi Arabia comes into the picture.

Needless to say, Saudi Arabia is the most popular and favoured country in Pakistan due to the religious ties. If Pakistanis were made to chose between Saudi Arabia and China, at least 3/4th would back Saudi over China any given day. It is this influence which America is trying to utilize now to scuttle CPEC.

Saudis wanting to be part of the CPEC and the media hype over the treatment of Uyghur muslims by the Chinese government aren't isolated incidents.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

That is because you are seeing CPEC from a Pakistani perspective only. America is trying to build a narrative, a narrative about China exploiting countries and pushing them into debt. Be it Africa or Asia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius is the latest one.

CPEC being the biggest of the BRI projects, and Pakistan being one of the closest Chinese allies, its failure will substantiate this narrative. With a relatively honest and sincere government in Pakistan now, America no longer has the assets that it used to enjoy during Zardari and Sharif regime and this is where Saudi Arabia comes into the picture.

Needless to say, Saudi Arabia is the most popular and favoured country in Pakistan due to the religious ties. If Pakistanis were made to chose between Saudi Arabia and China, at least 3/4th would back Saudi over China any given day. It is this influence which America is trying to utilize now to scuttle CPEC.

Saudis wanting to be part of the CPEC and the media hype over the treatment of Uyghur muslims by the Chinese government aren't isolated incidents.

Some valid points here.

 

[SunilM]

lol, so than how come saudis are investing in pakistan, are you suggesting the dragon has fallen in line..

pakistan is free country and thats what irks india, as it cant have it say as it has on other regional countries be it nepal, bhutan or bangladesh


even if he enables saudis to setup a single refinery that will be the biggest investment from saudis in 3 decades..so you see how poorly have we done with respect to arab countries

simple start ups in west have attarcted more arab invetsment than a 200 million country due to corruption and red tapism

And where is the saudi investment in Pakistan? Don't tell me you are referring to those Mou's you signed with a mid level saudi delegation, which were signed after you failed to secure any aid or oil on deferred payments. I shall now quote my earlier post....

"
From the other trending thread.....

"“Is this what our life is that we have come to a low where we will beg from others,” Dawood said, adding that a talented nation of over 200 million people deserved far better than this. “It was awful to beg from Saudi Arabia,” he said. "

 

[Feng Leng]

SCMP is a fake news website run by Jews.

Pakistan is free to do whatever deals they want as long as it doesn't breach bilateral treaties.

Good to see Saudi Arabia building ties with Pakistan. I don't see Pakistan complaining when China buys oil from Saudi Arabia and there is no reason for complaint vice versa either.

 

[SunilM]

Pakistan is free to do whatever deals they want as long as it doesn't breach bilateral treaties.

Touche!

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

WITH CPEC, PAKISTAN RISKS CHINESE ANGER BY COURTING SAUDI ARABIA

6 OCT 2018


Since 2015, Beijing has insisted that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the showcase project of President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, is purely an economic programme – as its name suggests.

Apparently, the new Pakistani administration of Prime Minister Imran Khan did not receive the memo. In the space of a couple of weeks, it has taken two decisions which have cast the CPEC as a bargaining chip in Pakistan’s complicated, ill-managed relationships with other key partners.

First, it has suddenly reduced the potential value of the CPEC programme to US$50 billion by 2030, down from US$62 billion. In one fell swoop, it decided to starve the western overland route from Xinjiang to the Chinese-operated Arabian Sea port of Gwadar of funding.

In Pakistan, Chinese money grapples with a Karachi-Lahore divide
Pakistan is also considering slashing its planned spending on a CPEC project to rehabilitate its horribly outdated national railways network. Priced at about US$8 billion, it would constitute the single largest project of the enormous programme.

These drastic measures are part of Khan’s urgent response to an unsustainable current account deficit, which is currently at a record level, and severely depleted foreign exchange reserves. Viewed from his perspective, these issues were brought about, in part, by the greedy enthusiasm of his ousted predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, for the CPEC. Sharif failed to foresee the impact of massive inflows of Chinese machinery on Pakistan’s external finances, which have been kept afloat – barely – by a series of emergency Chinese loans and central bank deposits this year.

The Khan administration is using the China Pakistan Economic Corridor for political as well as economic gain. Photo: AP

Economists are convinced Pakistan has little choice but to apply to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a balance of payments bailout. Already, it is clear that any prospective bailout would come at a steep political price. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has vowed to ensure that any American taxpayer money lent to Pakistan by the Bretton Woods institution would not be used to settle its Chinese debts. Accordingly, the IMF mission to Islamabad pushed for greater disclosure about CPEC project contracts.

This raises a poignant question: was the Khan administration’s decision to dump the western CPEC route an attempt to persuade the US to soften its line on multilateral financial assistance?

The answer may lie across the border in Iran, the target of the sanctions-driven Middle East agenda of US President Donald Trump. CPEC’s western route offered China an opportunity to develop an overland belt and road extension into Iran – a natural destination, given the considerable investments it made after the 2015 multilateral deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Not any more.

How US policy is turning Pakistan into a Chinese colony, thwarting America’s regional ambitions
Pakistan’s second decision, to invite Saudi Arabia to develop a massive refinery complex at Gwadar, certainly suggests the CPEC is being manipulated to serve ends other than China’s. The reformist Saudi administration of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has courted the Trump administration to counter Iran’s growing role across the Middle East, and was delighted when Washington abandoned the nuclear deal struck by former president Barack Obama. Riyadh must be salivating at the prospect of setting up a strategic oil reserve 120km from Pakistan’s border with Iran. Tehran, on the other hand, would be foaming at the mouth at this brazen attempt to undermine its flailing economy.

China was not informed about Saudi Arabia’s prospective investment at the port of Gwadar. Photo: Reuters

Asad Umar, the Pakistani finance minister, has admitted China was not informed about the prospective Saudi investment at Gwadar, the CPEC’s crowning glory. It was merely told that Pakistan planned to involve unspecified third-party investors, an idea China has always been open to because of the broader objectives of the belt and road plan.

Beijing had no idea the Khan administration was seeking to leverage Gwadar to persuade the Saudis to provide Pakistan with oil on a deferred-payment basis, so as to ease the pressure on its forex reserves and reduce the amount it would need to borrow from the IMF.

It must have been alarmed to learn the identity of the mystery investor, and then to hear Pakistan’s information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, describe the Saudi project as part of the CPEC. He hastily backtracked the next day, but not before strengthening the impression that the Khan administration was not being entirely honest or sincere with its “iron brother”.


The reasons for its duplicity are clear enough. Pakistan is uncomfortable with the prospect of becoming the focal point of an economic confrontation between the US and China that threatens to escalate into a 21st-century cold war. It has also noted that talks are under way to bring India into the fold of the counter-belt-and-road fund recently launched by the US and Japan, and that the European Union has unveiled similar plans to resist China’s economic expansionism.

Pakistan’s economic and strategic circumstances simply do not accord it the luxury of taking sides in a stand-off between behemoths, all of which it is beholden to. This promises to invigorate the conversations to be held during Khan’s forthcoming visit to China.

Officially, China will persist with the position that it is working to develop the CPEC in accordance with Pakistan’s wishes. It may seek to placate Khan by agreeing to improve the terms of existing and future CPEC project agreements, reschedule some of the bilateral debt, and relax tariff barriers for Pakistani exports. But Xi must be wondering whether the calculated gamble of showcasing his signature initiative in Pakistan is going to pay off or backfire. ■

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opin...tan-risks-chinese-anger-courting-saudi-arabia

Oh, Iron brother is pissed off now!!

Fake news.

Nothing but wishful thinking on the side of Indians.

China is fully involved and supportive of courting KSA in CPEC.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Pakistan's National Interest : Economy and CPEC is profitable and Pay back certain loan

China's Interest : Build up CPEC and regain some profit recovery for investment faster revenue made better outcome, Use port to move goods to Saudia and Europe via Turkey may be

Saudi Interest : Oil needs to move to China and Pakistani Oil Terminal is best way to get oil to China, Pakistan makes money with Saudi Investment


So it is all 100% connected

 

[Yankee-stani]

SCMP is a fake news website run by Jews.

Pakistan is free to do whatever deals they want as long as it doesn't breach bilateral treaties.

Good to see Saudi Arabia building ties with Pakistan. I don't see Pakistan complaining when China buys oil from Saudi Arabia and there is no reason for complaint vice versa either.

SCMP is a trash site like Epoch Times and Sixth Tone hard to find a balanced view of China these days

 

[delta2]

I thought Israel was America's 51st state.

Saudi Arabia has an independent foreign policy.

Saudi Arabia will eventually twilt towards China hopefully.

Israel is nothing but a colonial outpost. For now the Arabs are deep asleep. The KSA is under full command and control of the USA. Everything else is irrelevant.

 

[BATMAN]

Okay Indian posted article on PDF we have stopped the CPEC already thank you indian for your concern for Pakistan.

Saudi joined or not, CPEC is already in jeopardy because of PTI red tape.

Article is written by Tom Hussain, a Pakistani.

TOM Hussain should write something about Mubarik Hussein Patel, aswell.