Pakistan war fuels international tensions
11 May 2009
Comments by Chinas ambassador in Islamabad last Thursday highlight
the reckless character of the Obama administrations escalating
intervention in Pakistan. By pressuring Islamabad to wage an all-out
military offensive against Islamic insurgents in the Swat Valley and
neighbouring districts, Washington is not only destabilising Pakistan
but raising tensions in a highly volatile area.
Speaking to Pakistani business leaders, Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui
pointedly voiced concern about the growth of outside influence in
the region. He singled out the US in particular, saying that China was
worried about US policies and the presence of a large number of
foreign troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. While reiterating Chinas
support for the fight against terror, Luo declared that US
strategies needed some corrective measures. He added, These are
issues of serious concern for China.
Luos unusually blunt remarks came just one day after US President
Obama spoke to his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao. While a
number of issues were discussed, the escalating war in Pakistan was
clearly high on the agenda. This first publicised phone call between
the two men came as Obama met with the Afghan and Pakistani presidents
over US strategy in the two countries. While Hu reportedly offered his
cooperation, Luos comments express Chinas underlying fears over
growing US influence in South Asia.
Last weeks tripartite summit in Washington signalled a major upsurge
in military violence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Under intense
pressure from the US, the Pakistani army has launched a large-scale
offensive against militants in the Swat Valley in which hundreds have
already died and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced
to flee. The summit, however, involved more than discussions on
military cooperation, outlining comprehensive plans for the closer
economic and strategic integration of the two countries into an
American sphere of influence.
China, which has longstanding ties with Pakistan, is obviously
disturbed by these developments. As Ambassador Luo told his business
audience, more than 60 Chinese companies are involved in 122 projects
in Pakistan. He noted the close liaison with Pakistan over the
security of over 10,000 Chinese engineers and technical experts in the
country. In fact, Beijing has previously insisted on reprisals over
the abduction and killing of Chinese citizens by Pakistani militants
as well as military action against Islamic Uighur separatists from
western China taking refuge in Pakistan.
More fundamentally, Beijing regards Islamabad as a crucial partner in
its own regional strategy. China devoted considerable resources to
building up Pakistan as a counterweight to India after the 1962 Sino-
Indian border war. Pakistan is the largest purchaser of Chinese arms
and, according to the Pentagon, accounted for 36 percent of Chinas
military exports between 2003 and 2007. Chinese technical assistance
was critical to Pakistans nuclear weapon and ballistic missile
programs.
In return, China received the green light to build a major naval/
commercial port facility at Gwadar, a coastal town in Baluchistan. The
port is the linchpin of Beijings string of pearls strategy to
establish access for its expanding navy to a series of ports along key
sea routes across the Indian Oceanabove all, to protect oil and gas
supplies from the Middle East and Africa. For its part, the US, which
regards China as a rising economic and strategic rival, is determined
to maintain its military, including naval, predominance.
US-China tensions over Pakistan only highlight the deeply
destabilising role of Washingtons aggressive intervention, firstly in
subjugating Afghanistan, and now in seeking to bring Pakistan more
directly under its sway. The escalating conflict in Pakistan is a
direct product of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which the Bush
administration forced Pakistan to support under the threat of becoming
a military target itself. Widespread opposition inside Pakistan and
Afghanistan to US actions has fuelled a growing insurgency that
threatens not only the US occupation of Afghanistan, but a full-scale
civil war in Pakistan.
US imperialism, under the Obama administration, is determined to
exploit the very disasters it has created in order to advance its
strategic interests throughout the broader region, especially in
energy-rich Central Asia. By doing so, Washington is fundamentally
altering the precarious strategic balance and threatening to draw the
other major powers into the vortex.
China is not alone in its fear of US designs in Central Asia and the
presence of large numbers of foreign troops in Afghanistan. Ever since
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US has been seeking to
establish military alliances and economic ties with the newly
established Central Asian Republics. Washington exploited its invasion
of Afghanistan to establish military bases in Central Asia for the
first time. Afghanistan and Pakistan also provided a potential
alternate pipeline route to extract energy riches from the region. In
response, China and Russia, which both regard the region as their
backyard, came together in the Shanghai Cooperation Group to counter
expanding American influence.
Neighbouring India is also watching events in Pakistan with
trepidation. While quietly applauding Washingtons pressure on
Islamabad to wage war against terrorism, New Delhi is concerned that
Pakistans closer incorporation under the American umbrella may lead
to the downgrading of the US-Indian strategic partnership, which only
developed in the late 1990s. The weakening of rival Pakistan, against
which India has fought three wars, is no doubt welcomed in New Delhi.
But its replacement by a US client state, or worse its collapse into
chaos, would only confront the Indian establishment with new
uncertainties.
The entire region remains a potential powder keg. The Cold War
certainties that divided the world between the Soviet and Western
blocs have been replaced by new tensions and rivalries. Tentative
steps by India and Pakistan to resolve their longstanding disputes,
especially over Kashmir, have all but stalled. Efforts by China and
India to improve relations have moved slowly. Each continues to eye
the other with suspicion and to intrigue at each others expense in
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Burma.
The most explosive ingredient in this volatile mixture is the attempt
by US imperialism to use its military superiority to offset its long-
term economic decline. Far from easing tensions, the installation of
the Obama administration marked an aggressive new turn in the war in
Afghanistan and Pakistan aimed at advancing US ambitions. Last weeks
comments by Chinas ambassador are another sign that Washingtons
moves will not go unopposed.
11 May 2009
Comments by Chinas ambassador in Islamabad last Thursday highlight
the reckless character of the Obama administrations escalating
intervention in Pakistan. By pressuring Islamabad to wage an all-out
military offensive against Islamic insurgents in the Swat Valley and
neighbouring districts, Washington is not only destabilising Pakistan
but raising tensions in a highly volatile area.
Speaking to Pakistani business leaders, Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui
pointedly voiced concern about the growth of outside influence in
the region. He singled out the US in particular, saying that China was
worried about US policies and the presence of a large number of
foreign troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. While reiterating Chinas
support for the fight against terror, Luo declared that US
strategies needed some corrective measures. He added, These are
issues of serious concern for China.
Luos unusually blunt remarks came just one day after US President
Obama spoke to his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao. While a
number of issues were discussed, the escalating war in Pakistan was
clearly high on the agenda. This first publicised phone call between
the two men came as Obama met with the Afghan and Pakistani presidents
over US strategy in the two countries. While Hu reportedly offered his
cooperation, Luos comments express Chinas underlying fears over
growing US influence in South Asia.
Last weeks tripartite summit in Washington signalled a major upsurge
in military violence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Under intense
pressure from the US, the Pakistani army has launched a large-scale
offensive against militants in the Swat Valley in which hundreds have
already died and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced
to flee. The summit, however, involved more than discussions on
military cooperation, outlining comprehensive plans for the closer
economic and strategic integration of the two countries into an
American sphere of influence.
China, which has longstanding ties with Pakistan, is obviously
disturbed by these developments. As Ambassador Luo told his business
audience, more than 60 Chinese companies are involved in 122 projects
in Pakistan. He noted the close liaison with Pakistan over the
security of over 10,000 Chinese engineers and technical experts in the
country. In fact, Beijing has previously insisted on reprisals over
the abduction and killing of Chinese citizens by Pakistani militants
as well as military action against Islamic Uighur separatists from
western China taking refuge in Pakistan.
More fundamentally, Beijing regards Islamabad as a crucial partner in
its own regional strategy. China devoted considerable resources to
building up Pakistan as a counterweight to India after the 1962 Sino-
Indian border war. Pakistan is the largest purchaser of Chinese arms
and, according to the Pentagon, accounted for 36 percent of Chinas
military exports between 2003 and 2007. Chinese technical assistance
was critical to Pakistans nuclear weapon and ballistic missile
programs.
In return, China received the green light to build a major naval/
commercial port facility at Gwadar, a coastal town in Baluchistan. The
port is the linchpin of Beijings string of pearls strategy to
establish access for its expanding navy to a series of ports along key
sea routes across the Indian Oceanabove all, to protect oil and gas
supplies from the Middle East and Africa. For its part, the US, which
regards China as a rising economic and strategic rival, is determined
to maintain its military, including naval, predominance.
US-China tensions over Pakistan only highlight the deeply
destabilising role of Washingtons aggressive intervention, firstly in
subjugating Afghanistan, and now in seeking to bring Pakistan more
directly under its sway. The escalating conflict in Pakistan is a
direct product of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which the Bush
administration forced Pakistan to support under the threat of becoming
a military target itself. Widespread opposition inside Pakistan and
Afghanistan to US actions has fuelled a growing insurgency that
threatens not only the US occupation of Afghanistan, but a full-scale
civil war in Pakistan.
US imperialism, under the Obama administration, is determined to
exploit the very disasters it has created in order to advance its
strategic interests throughout the broader region, especially in
energy-rich Central Asia. By doing so, Washington is fundamentally
altering the precarious strategic balance and threatening to draw the
other major powers into the vortex.
China is not alone in its fear of US designs in Central Asia and the
presence of large numbers of foreign troops in Afghanistan. Ever since
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US has been seeking to
establish military alliances and economic ties with the newly
established Central Asian Republics. Washington exploited its invasion
of Afghanistan to establish military bases in Central Asia for the
first time. Afghanistan and Pakistan also provided a potential
alternate pipeline route to extract energy riches from the region. In
response, China and Russia, which both regard the region as their
backyard, came together in the Shanghai Cooperation Group to counter
expanding American influence.
Neighbouring India is also watching events in Pakistan with
trepidation. While quietly applauding Washingtons pressure on
Islamabad to wage war against terrorism, New Delhi is concerned that
Pakistans closer incorporation under the American umbrella may lead
to the downgrading of the US-Indian strategic partnership, which only
developed in the late 1990s. The weakening of rival Pakistan, against
which India has fought three wars, is no doubt welcomed in New Delhi.
But its replacement by a US client state, or worse its collapse into
chaos, would only confront the Indian establishment with new
uncertainties.
The entire region remains a potential powder keg. The Cold War
certainties that divided the world between the Soviet and Western
blocs have been replaced by new tensions and rivalries. Tentative
steps by India and Pakistan to resolve their longstanding disputes,
especially over Kashmir, have all but stalled. Efforts by China and
India to improve relations have moved slowly. Each continues to eye
the other with suspicion and to intrigue at each others expense in
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Burma.
The most explosive ingredient in this volatile mixture is the attempt
by US imperialism to use its military superiority to offset its long-
term economic decline. Far from easing tensions, the installation of
the Obama administration marked an aggressive new turn in the war in
Afghanistan and Pakistan aimed at advancing US ambitions. Last weeks
comments by Chinas ambassador are another sign that Washingtons
moves will not go unopposed.
