Why Has China Embraced Pakistan?

Resumption of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project After Lull Since 2017
US Supports Afghan Infrastructure, India Strengthens Ties with Russia to Counter China
China-Iran Bridge... Highlighting Geopolitical Significance

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Chinese government has begun to strongly push forward the Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which had been in a lull since 2017, and has started to closely align again. This is interpreted as a strategy to encircle India through an economic and diplomatic community connecting China, Pakistan, and Iran, amid hegemonic competition with the United States and border disputes with India.

In particular, as the United States is showing moves to strengthen its alliance with India and support Afghanistan to check China, the Pakistan region is emerging as a new area of conflict not only militarily but also economically between the U.S. and China. According to reports from Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 25th, the Chinese and Pakistani governments recently approved a $6.8 billion (about 8.1 trillion KRW) railway development project in the Kashmir region. This project is part of the CPEC, which is known to have a total project cost of $62 billion. Earlier this month, the Chinese government announced that about 118 km of the 'Friendship Highway' under construction between Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, had partially opened; following the road, they have now decided to build a railway network as well.

Economic Difficulties Worsen After IMF Bailout Failure

The fact that China and Pakistan have begun to economically align closely is notable because it differs significantly from the previous atmosphere. Pakistan had attracted funds amounting to $46 billion from China in 2015, but suddenly faced a surge in debt and a depletion of foreign currency reserves. In October 2018, Pakistan applied for a $12 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but the application failed due to U.S. concerns that the funds might be transferred to China.

Ultimately, Pakistan received emergency support of $6 billion from Saudi Arabia, an Islamic Sunni country like Pakistan, $3 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and an additional $2 billion from China. As economic difficulties worsened, the Pakistani government announced it would reduce the scale of the Economic Corridor project, and most construction remained stalled until last year.

The revival of this project was triggered by the border dispute between China and India. On June 15, hundreds of Chinese and Indian soldiers clashed violently at the border area, resulting in dozens of deaths, prompting the Chinese government to accelerate the CPEC project again. According to the U.S. media Foreign Policy, last month the Chinese government announced a $400 billion investment in oil and gas pipeline connection projects, railways, roads, and other infrastructure in Iran. The CPEC project with Pakistan, located in the middle of the infrastructure connection between the two countries, also began to gain momentum. Foreign Policy analyzed that China is pursuing a strategy to blockade India in the region by strengthening cooperation among China, Pakistan, and Iran.

India Strengthens Relations with Russia Following the U.S. to Counter China-Pakistan

Facing the threat of encirclement, India is countering China not only through the United States but also by strengthening relations with Russia. According to TASS news agency, the Indian government requested to expedite the delivery of the Russian missile defense system S-400, which was contracted in 2018. Russia agreed to move the delivery date forward from the end of next year to January of the same year. SCMP reported that the Chinese government is angry about Russia’s announcement to advance the supply of the S-400 to India immediately after the large-scale violent clash between China and India. Russia has also exported 33 fighter jets, including MiG-29s and Su-30s, to India in addition to the S-400.

As the close relationship between China and Pakistan strengthens, the United States is supporting infrastructure development projects in Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan, to check China. According to the Associated Press, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), under the U.S. government, has estimated that U.S. investment in Afghanistan’s reconstruction since 2002 has reached $132 billion. On the 25th of last month, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Peace, reportedly proposed to the Afghan government support for infrastructure construction using funds from the U.S. international development finance institution, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.