China’s Silk Road hits $ 14bn hurdle in Pakistan
◗ From Pakistan to Tanzania to Hungary, projects under ‘ Belt and Road Initiative’ are being cancelled, renegotiated or delayed due to disputes about costs or complaints
Beijing, Jan. 11: China’s plan for a modern Silk Road of railways, ports and other facilities linking Asia with Europe hit a $ 14 billion pothole in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s relations with Beijing are so close that officials call China their “Iron Brother.” Despite that, plans for the Diamer- Bhasha dam on the Indus in GilgitBaltistan, Pakistan- occupiedKashmir, were thrown into turmoil in November 2017 when the chairman of Pakistan’s water authority said that Beijing wanted an ownership stake in the $ 14 billion hydropower project. He rejected that as against Pakistani interests.
China issued a denial but the official withdrew the dam from among dozens of projects being jointly developed by the two countries.
On Silk Road troubles in Pakistan, Robert Koepp, an analyst in Hong Kong for research firm Economist Corporate Network, said, “Pakistan is one of the countries that is in China’s hip pocket, and for Pakistan to stand up and say, ‘ I’m not going to do this with you’, shows it’s not as ‘ win- win’ as China says it is.” The two governments are developing facilities with a total cost of $ 60 billion, including power plants and railways, to link China’s far west with the Chinesebuilt port of Gwadar on the Indian Ocean.
A visit by a Chinese assistant foreign minister in November 2017 produced no agreement on railway projects in the southern city of Karachi valued at $ 10 billion and a $ 260 million airport for Gwadar.
From Pakistan to Tanzania to Hungary, projects under President Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road Initiative” are being cancelled, renegotiated or delayed due to disputes about costs or complaints that host countries get too little out of projects built by Chinese companies and financed by loans from Beijing that must be repaid.
In some areas, Beijing is suffering a political backlash due to fears of domination by Asia’s biggest economy.
Governments from Washington to Moscow to New Delhi are uneasy Beijing is trying to use its “Belt and Road Initiative” to develop a China- centred political structure that will erode their influence.