Chinese dreams hit rock-bottom amid mounting violence in Pakistan
The “iron brotherhood” between China and Pakistan is showing cracks as Chinese nationals continue to face deadly attacks on Pakistani soil.
Beijing’s ambitious investments in Pakistan are increasingly looking like a costly affair, with Chinese lives being lost at an alarming rate despite Pakistan’s assurances of protection. Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong broke the diplomatic niceties to publicly rebuke Pakistan over its security failures.
The ambassador’s statement that recent attacks were “unacceptable” for Beijing marks a departure from China’s typically measured diplomatic approach, suggesting that patience in Beijing has worn thin.
Pakistan’s security apparatus has proved woefully inadequate in protecting Chinese nationals.
The string of deadly attacks reads like a grim catalog of failure: suicide bombings near Karachi’s airport killing Chinese citizens, five Chinese nationals murdered while working on the Dasu Hydropower Project, and repeated attacks on Chinese engineers and workers.
Each incident serves as a reminder of Pakistan’s inability to secure even its most prized international partnership. The $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), once trumpeted as the crown jewel of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, now stands on increasingly shaky ground.
With thousands of Chinese personnel at risk across Pakistan, what was meant to be China’s gateway to the Arabian Sea has become a vulnerable choke point where its citizens pay with their lives.
Beijing’s growing frustration has manifested in increasingly demanding behavior. No longer content with Pakistan’s ineffective security measures, China is now pushing to deploy its private security companies on Pakistani soil – a move that would have been unthinkable in the past.
The prospect of Chinese security firms operating within Pakistan represents a stinging vote of no confidence in the host nation’s capabilities. Pakistan’s establishment of a Special Security Division, comprising 30,000 troops and an additional 32,000 security personnel, has proved to be little more than a paper tiger.
Despite this massive deployment, attacks continue unabated, making a mockery of Pakistan’s security guarantees. The country’s response to Chinese criticism has been equally telling; Pakistani officials expressed “surprise” at their ally’s frank assessment.
The economic implications of this security crisis are severe. With 38 projects worth $25.2 billion completed and another 26 projects valued at $26.8 billion in the pipeline, China’s massive investment in Pakistan is increasingly looking like a hostage to fortune.
The slowdown in project implementation speaks volumes about Beijing’s growing wariness of committing more resources to such an unstable environment.
China’s demand for a joint security mechanism and its insistence on making security cooperation a prerequisite for future deals reveals a fundamental shift in the power dynamics between the two nations.
Pakistan, once proud of its sovereign control over security matters, now faces the humiliating prospect of accepting Chinese security firms on its soil – a clear indication of how far its stock has fallen in Beijing’s eyes.
Beijing’s $60 billion investment in CPEC, portrayed as a transformative economic corridor, masks a thinly-veiled debt trap that has left Pakistan dancing to China’s tune while drowning in Chinese loans.
The reality behind the glossy infrastructure projects and grand pronouncements is far more sobering: Pakistan has become little more than a risky subsidiary in China’s global ambitions, with each new project adding another link in the chain of economic dependency.
The recent security crisis has laid bare this unequal partnership – while Pakistan struggles to protect Chinese workers on its soil, Beijing shows no hesitation in publicly humiliating its “iron brother” and demanding unprecedented security control.
The economic corridor has become more of a corridor of vulnerability, with Pakistan compromising its sovereignty at every turn while China’s promises of economic transformation remain largely unfulfilled.
Far from the win-win cooperation touted in diplomatic speeches, the relationship has devolved into a master-servant dynamic where Pakistan provides strategic access and resources while accumulating unsustainable debt, and China maintains a facade of friendship while pursuing its own strategic interests with little regard for its partner’s economic stability or sovereign dignity.
The situation represents a stark reality check for both nations. For China, it’s a costly lesson in the risks of investing heavily in unstable regions, regardless of diplomatic rhetoric about “all-weather friendship.”
For Pakistan, it’s a humbling reminder that promises of security mean nothing without the capability to deliver them. As attacks continue and Chinese bodies pile up, Beijing’s unprecedented public criticism of Pakistan signals a potential unraveling of what was once considered an unshakeable alliance.
The dream of CPEC as a game-changing economic corridor increasingly looks like a nightmare of security failures and diplomatic tensions. With China now considering taking security matters into its own hands, Pakistan’s role as a trusted partner appears to be diminishing by the day.
Patience has limits, even between “iron brothers.” As Pakistan scrambles to salvage its reputation and prevent Chinese security firms from taking over protection duties, the world watches what might be the beginning of the end of China’s great Pakistan gamble.
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