Pakistan and China's debt trap diplomacy
Ronak D. Desai For The Straits Times the writer is an Affiliate at the South Asia Institute at Harvard University and a Law & Security Fellow at the New America think-tank.
January 18, 2018
US President Donald Trump's tough new approach towards Pakistan and suspension of over US$1 billion (S$1.32 billion) worth of security assistance may or may not get it to move meaningfully against religious extremists but there is little doubt over who the real winner will be of this bilateral bust-up: China. China's swift public declaration of support for Pakistan as its "all-weather partner" is an implicit rebuke of the United States. It comes as China is pushing ahead with its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a grand Eurasian project of which Pakistan is considered a key entry point.
But now, Pakistan's increasing diplomatic and financial isolation from the US makes the consummation of Chinese plans under CPEC more likely. In fact, shortly after the US announced the suspension of aid to Islamabad, Pakistan's central bank announced it would finally begin using Chinese yuan for bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. More significantly, China's ambassador to Pakistan proclaimed that the country would expedite the timetable of CPEC's construction.
In this way, Pakistan risks becoming the latest victim of what has also been labelled China's "creditor imperialism". Just last month, Sri Lanka was forced to turn over control of its Hambantota port to a Chinese state-owned company under a 99-year lease deal after it was unable to repay the crushing debt the country incurred from Beijing to have it built in the first place.
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/pakistan-and-chinas-debt-trap-diplomacy
Interesting article that shows the cost of economic backing from China. There is enormous complexity in these situations.
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