Pakistan: Attacks, protests raise security concerns over China’s investments in Balochistan

Quetta (Pakistan): Even as China tries to exploit Balochistan’s natural resources through the CPEC, Baloch freedom fighters have carried out major attacks on Chinese officials in Pakistan’s most impoverished province.

Baloch civil rights groups have also conducted regular demonstrations against Chinese activities in Balochistan. These include a major sit-down protest near the entrance of the Gwadar port, which crippled operations at the CPEC showpiece for several days.

The ongoing protests in Balochistan due to the loss of livelihood in the region and a repeated crackdown on the protesters has left the Chinese leadership worried, raising deep concerns about the security of China’s investments in this restive and rebellious province of Pakistan.

According to a report by Pakistani media outlet Islam Khabar, the people of Balochistan have realised that China’s investment is primarily about its own economic and geopolitical objectives since it has commercial and military interests in the Pakistani port of Gwadar.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) connects Pakistan’s Gwadar port in the Balochistan province with China’s Xinjiang province as the centrepiece of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China, which is budgeted at 60 billion US dollars.

A significant CPEC project that gives the Communist nation, China access to the Arabian Sea, through the vital Gwadar Port in Balochistan province.

According to a report by news agency ANI, China’s frustration is growing over time as only three CPEC projects in Gwadar have been completed, whereas “one-dozen projects costing nearly two billion US dollars remain unfinished including water supply and electricity provision in Pakistan.

In an apparent attempt to pacify the protesters, the provincial government has declared the status of labour for local fishermen to secure their labour rights and to bring them to the ambit of labour laws and the International Labour Organisation conventions.

The local administration and fisheries department in Gwadar said they have been patrolling the sea day and night, the report stated, adding that local residents in Gwadar, including Haq Do Tehreek members, are not convinced by the efforts of the local administration to resolve the situation.

On December 29, the Balochistan government imposed an emergency law banning gathering five or more people, the Dawn reported, adding that the police rounded up 100 protesters four days after tensions erupted in the district after months of peaceful protests for fundamental rights.

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