China’s Premier Li begins Pakistan visit amid rare strains in relations

ISLAMABAD  — Chinese Premier Li Qiang began a four-day visit to Pakistan on Monday under tight security for bilateral talks and to attend the heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) hosted in Islamabad this week.

Pakistan is on high alert after a recent increase in deadly insurgent attacks nationwide, including a suicide car bomb attack in Karachi last week that targeted a Chinese convoy and resulted in the deaths of two Chinese engineers.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Li at a military air base outside the Pakistani capital before the two led their respective teams’ delegations to review bilateral trade and progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Popularly known as CPEC, the Chinese-funded multibillion-dollar bilateral project is a key extension of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global Belt and Road Initiative.

The Pakistani government has declared a three-day public holiday in Islamabad and the adjoining garrison city of Rawalpindi. Schools and businesses are closed, and troops and paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure “foolproof security arrangements” for Li’s visit and the two-day SCO summit starting Tuesday.

After holding delegation-level talks, Li and Sharif virtually inaugurated the CPEC-built international airport in Gwadar, a coastal city housing a Chinese-controlled deep-water port on the Arabian Sea.

“Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and the Pakistani leadership, our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership is constantly deepening. What we have is a unique and unbreakable iron-clad friendship that has stood the test of a changing international landscape,” Li stated while addressing the ceremony broadcast live.

In his brief speech, Sharif thanked the Chinese premier for building the airport as a gift to Pakistan. “I want to assure you that I will work with you very closely … to promote peace and security for the people of China in Pakistan,” he added.

Neither side has commented on the reason for the virtual inauguration, but diplomatic sources cited heightened security concerns, particularly following the Karachi attack.

Li is the first Chinese premier to visit Islamabad in 11 years. The Sharif administration said the visit will help advance the development of CPEC and facilitate Chinese business expansion in the South Asian nation.

China has invested nearly $25 billion over the past decade under CPEC, building large-scale infrastructure development projects in Pakistan such as roads, highways, power plants, the Gwadar seaport and the airport.

However, critics are skeptical about whether China would be keen to expand its business investments under CPEC, citing growing security threats to Chinese workers in Pakistan, among other challenges.

Militant attacks have killed at least 21 Chinese nationals since 2017. Last week’s Karachi suicide bombing of Chinese engineers associated with a CPEC power plant prompted Beijing to ask its citizens not to visit Balochistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Both sit on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and witness almost daily insurgent attacks.

On Monday, at least four police officers were killed when Islamist insurgents stormed a district police headquarters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Authorities said that all five assailants were also killed in the ensuing exchange of fire.

Turning point

Mushahid Hussain, a former senator and head of the Islamabad-based Pakistan-China Institute, cautioned that the latest deadly attack on Chinese nationals was a severe blow and could be a “turning point” for the “strategic partnership” between the two countries.

“China has huge investments in strife-torn Nigeria and Congo, but never have we witnessed … murders of Chinese engineers and technicians … as we see these recurring in Pakistan,” Hussain noted.

Hussain described the Karachi attack as a “blatant breach of security” and echoed Chinese calls for Pakistani authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice urgently.

“China, our best friend, has been badly let down with their confidence shaken” despite Islamabad promising “foolproof security” for its Chinese guests, he stated.

Separatist militant group the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the October 6 attack in Karachi, the capital of the southern Sindh province. The group has been waging deadly attacks in Balochistan, accusing China of helping Pakistan to exploit the region’s natural resources, charges both countries reject as unfounded.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters Monday that their government was doing all it could to ensure the security of the Chinese nationals in Pakistan. He stated that recent attacks on Chinese workers, including the Karachi bombing, “are being probed, and the prime minister is personally looking into it.”

In their post-attack meetings with Pakistani counterparts, Chinese officials appeared “furious” and pressed the host nation to “severely punish” the perpetrators and urgently enhance the security of Chinese nationals and projects, according to diplomatic sources privy to the discussions.

Husnain Javed, a Beijing-based Pakistani researcher, told VOA that CPEC-related debt and capacity payments for Chinese-built coal-fired power plants are the main hurdles in moving the project forward.

“Pakistan is looking to defer these payments for a period of 3 years with interest and penalty amount [growing]. … We are far from CPEC phase 2,” he stated in written comments.

Javed noted that growing security concerns for thousands of Chinese workers in Pakistan have added to the bilateral project challenges.

“The recent attack, I think, is the final nail in the CPEC coffin, as it heavily damaged the trust between the two countries. … It’s important to consider that these were no ordinary engineers,” the researcher noted.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said last week that a high-level team was sent to Islamabad after the attack. It “asked the Pakistani side to properly handle ensuing matters … conduct thorough investigations, bring all the perpetrators to justice, and step up security measures to ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects.”

 

By：VOA