China takes over Gwadar Port [Global Times] #China #Pakistan #Gwadar #StringOfPearls

String of Pearls: The global game of ‘Risk‘ sees China gaining a strategic deep-water foothold for naval deployment into the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, plus a more expedient energy route in tow. It serves too, as an alternative to the Straits of Malacca, where >80% the China’s imported oil has to go through.

Also – see 2011 Flashpoints: Asia – ‘String Of Pearls’ Is Securing China’s Sea Lanes by David Eshel

The headline ‘China takes over Gwadar Port‘ leaves little doubt how the top-down wishes this to be read in the mind of its readers.

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China takes over Gwadar Port
by Xu Tianran
Source – Global Times, published February 19, 2013

File photo shows the Gwadar Port in Southwest Pakistan. Photo: hinews.cn

A Chinese company Monday took over the operation of the strategic Gwadar Port in Southwest Pakistan and at the door of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been seen as a move that could secure an energy route for China.

At a ceremony held in Islamabad on Monday afternoon, representatives from Chinese Overseas Port Holdings Ltd, Gwadar Port Authority and the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) signed an agreement on the transfer of the port’s administrative control. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari attended the ceremony, saying the agreement marked the start of a new chapter in the lives of the people of Baluchistan and the Pakistan-China friendship, Pakistan’s The Express Tribune reported.

Under the agreement, the Chinese company will fully assume responsibility for the port. It will remain the property of Pakistan and the Chinese company will share the profits.

Please click here to read the rest of the article at its source.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Economics, Government & Policy, Hard Power, Influence, International Relations, military, Modernisation, Nationalism, Pakistan, Peaceful Development, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy, String of Pearls, Tao Guang Yang Hui (韬光养晦), Territorial Disputes, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities

China’s ‘String of Pearls’ – Real or Fake? #Forbes #China #India #Pakistan

China’s ‘String of Pearls’ not a figment of journalists’ imaginations: Maha Atal on seeing the economic forest for the trees.

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China’s ‘String of Pearls’ – Real or Fake?
by Maha Atal
Source – Forbes, published February 2, 2013

Dan Drezner has a blog post up arguing that China‘s ‘string of pearls’ is a figment of journalists’ imaginations. The ‘string of pearls’ is the name given to China’s strategic investments in South and Southeast Asia, which, when plotted on a map, look awfully like a string of pearls encircling India. Pakistan is critical to this strategy, both because of its size and its location. Drezner is right to suggest that without the Sino-Pakistani link, the string of pearls theory doesn’t hold.

I’ve written about the string of pearls, and specifically about its Pakistani component, several times, for Forbes and other outlets, and I confess I’m not fully persuaded by Drezner’s critique.

1. Drezner depicts the Sino-Pakistani relationship as something that has arisen in response to the U.S. presence in the region and China’s growth:

Please click here to read the rest of article at its source.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Communications, Forbes, Foreign aid, Government & Policy, India, Influence, International Relations, military, Pakistan, Peaceful Development, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy, Territorial Disputes, The Chinese Identity

China fingers Pakistan [Mr. Brown from the Straits Times]

Pointed a finger, perhaps.

A culturally and semantically inconsiderate headline from Singapore's Straits Times? Source - Mr. Brown

Filed under: International Relations, military, Pakistan, Photo Story, Straits Times

China our ‘best friend’: Pakistan PM [Straits Times]

Pakistan declares China its best friend as China was quick,and the first to show its support of Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEAL Team 6  in Operation Neptune’s Spear. ‘Both countries also see each other as an important counter-balance to India. To Pakistan, Beijing represents an uncritical friend, ready to provide aid, investment and military assistance.’

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China our ‘best friend’: Pakistan PM
Declaration comes amid tense ties with the US
Source – Straits Times, published May 18, 2011

Source - Straits Times

BEIJING: In an apparent dig at the United States, Pakistan’s prime minister declared China his country’s best friend as he began an official visit to China yesterday.

China, noted Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, was the first country to show its support of Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

His statement came amid soured ties with Washington over the raid, which is expected to nudge Islamabad even closer to Beijing, an old ally.

Filed under: AFP, AP, Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, India, Influence, International Relations, military, Pakistan, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Straits Times, Strategy

China, Pakistan conclude $35 bln deals [The Age]

With a 35-million-dollar Pakistan-China Friendship Centre in place to offer ‘the Pakistani capital a conference venue, theatre, cinema and space’ on top of the $35 billion worth of deals, Pakistan’s regard of China as its closest ally seems to be firmly in place.

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China, Pakistan conclude $35 bln deals
Khurram Shahzad
Source – The Age, published December 19, 2010

China and Pakistan concluded nearly 15 billion US dollars’ worth of deals, as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing would “never give up” on the troubled nuclear-armed Muslim country.

Business leaders formalised paperwork — adding to the 20 billion US dollars’ worth of deals signed Friday — under blanket security at Islamabad’s five-star Marriott Hotel, where a huge suicide truck bomb killed 60 people in 2008.

Boosting trade and investment with poverty-stricken Pakistan have been the main focus of the first visit in five years by a Chinese premier to the country that is on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Economics, Influence, International Relations, Pakistan, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Trade