CHINA-PAKISTAN: CPEC
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Criticism about the CPEC has been rising in Pakistan with provincial politicians being especially critical. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took the issue to the court, which was not appreciated by China. Consequently, a high level delegation from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, comprising Ministers and senior bureaucrats who were scheduled to visit China to study the mass transit transport system, were refused visas by the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad in November, 2016. Chinese ambassador in Pakistan Sun Weidong specially met (October 18, 2016) PTI chief Imran Khan and sought assurances that projects under CPEC would not be harmed or sabotaged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Reports suggest concern at the highest levels of the Chinese leadership about the criticism of the CPEC. Zheng Xiaosong, Vice Minister of the CCP CC's International Department, urged (Islamabad, December 20, 2016) Pakistani political parties to unite for the success of CPEC. He assured them of China's assistance to Pakistan for consensus and jointly working for it. Also, Muhammad Lijian Zhao, a senior Chinese diplomat based in Islamabad sought (December 20, 2016) Pakistani public's support against "disinformation" over CPEC. He criticized the people who were maligning the CPEC and claimed that project enjoyed the support of the people of Pakistan. More interestingly, the state-controlled Chinese media expressed apprehensions about the successful implementation of the CPEC. China's English language daily 'China Daily' warned of (September 14, 2016) setbacks to the CPEC adding -- quite unusually -- that China and Pakistan should be prepared for "potential setbacks" and expressing apprehension that implementation of the CPEC might slow down due to "security reasons" as the project passes through some turbulent areas like Gwadar and Kashmir. Concern was projected about the poor rate of return of Chinese investments under the CPEC due to Pakistan's weak economy. China Daily further suggested that instead of relying too much on Pakistan, China should focus on economic cooperation with southeast Asian countries. Moreover, China has refused to provide any financial assistance to Pakistan to meet the security expenses of the CPEC. The federal government consequently decided (September 24, 2016) to meet such expenses by adding 1 per cent more cost of all CEC projects and recovering it from energy consumers through the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority. This extra burden on electricity consumers of the country was actually to collect money for the Pakistan Army to meet its expenses on over ten thousand strong security force for CPEC. The Senate Standing Committee on Planning Development and Reform has protested over billing citizens for providing security to Chinese in Pakistan.
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