Four disputes over CPEC

Doubts about the CPEC are generally centered on four issues. The first is a debt problem, as many in the West believe the CPEC has had a negative influence or impact on Pakistan’s economic development and political and security situations. They argue that given Pakistan’s current economic development stage and its administration’s governing capacity, the country could be pushed into a debt trap as it would have to pay back China’s massive loans with interest.

Many Western media outlets have even said Pakistan expects China to offer it additional loans in the face of accumulative debt risks and a shortage of foreign exchange reserves, failing which it would be forced to seek help from the International Monetary Fund. Besides, they have over-hyped the flows of Chinese companies, workers and commodities into Pakistan in the name of the CPEC, claiming they would deal a strong blow to the local companies.

In response, Shamshad Akhtar, Pakistan’s caretaker minister of finance, issued a statement emphasizing that Pakistan would unswervingly push the development of the CPEC forward. And on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserve shortage, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has expressed confidence in Pakistan’s ability to overcome the present difficulties and maintain steady economic growth.

Second, critics have raised doubts over the distribution of the CPEC projects, which boils down to the question of Pakistan’s development priority. Although Beijing and Islamabad have foreseen and taken care of this issue, by attaching importance to smaller Pakistani provinces in terms of setting up power grids and special economic zones, the allocation of CPEC projects is more or less subject to the sway of competition among political parties and local governments in Pakistan.

Nonetheless, that the “early harvest” projects have smoothly advanced shows that completing the other CPEC projects on schedule by 2030 would help Pakistan redress the strained relations among its different provinces and regions.

Third, some opinion leaders continue to claim that China would benefit more from the CPEC than Pakistan. Focusing on the short-term returns, some economists say Pakistan’s interests would be compromised so long as China gains more than 50 percent of the profit from the CPEC while ignoring the fact that the CPEC projects would boost Pakistan’s economic growth and employment in the long run.

Compared with the sharing of shortterm benefits from the projects, more attention should be paid to their longterm