China About to Start $35B of Silk Road Plan in Pakistan
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
What's interesting is if you look at the parallel international institutions that China are developing that will compete with the IMF et al, many of the partners are traditional and very close allies of the United States.
For ex. with the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, six of the top ten participants are all traditional very close allies of the United States - including Australia, France, the UK and South Korea[0]
Long before Trump, Obama lobbied the leaders of these nations and advised against joining the AIIB, to no avail[1] All that post-war development and planning of building up the US sphere of influence slowly and steadily fading away.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Infrastructure_Investmen...
[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-asia-bank-idUSKBN0M...
Here are a few causes:
* In late 80's US empire has definitely thrown international law above the board by organizing color revolutions, destabilizing other countries and waging wars
* US empire and its vassals (other NATO members) leave a trail of blood where ever they show up
* Officially, US military - despite its huge budget, infrastructure and human power - still has not (15 years later!) defeated "the terrorists"
* US empire has definitely destroyed its financial reputation in 1971 by unilaterally canceling the "gold standard" and, since then, the masks are off and US dollar is being printed/created in the computer at the speed of light, without anything but military might to back it
* World Bank and IMF - two institutions majorly influenced by the US - wreak havoc in South America, Africa, South Asia and South Europe
* Russia is getting back on feet after 2000 and US empire has no means to counter it
* US empire and its media have done something remarkable in the 26 years since the fall of the Berlin wall: In 1990 USA was a country with a great image, in 2016 USA is arguably the most hated country in the world
The world outside of the empire sees all this. And runs away from the bully who has ("long before Trump") made himself weaker by seeking refuge in those who show at least some respect.
Let's agree to disagree on this, based on the fact that there are a number of countries with active civil wars and/or genocides.
now for rather unfortunate meddling into internal affairs of a given state - there isn't a single country in this world that can say US didn't try to f__k them over one way or the other. Not-a-single-one. You may not like this fact, but that's truth. Now we can say something similar, maybe to lesser exent, and maybe with more evil tone, about Russia, or in other ways about England/Dutch/French/Spanish/Belgian/German/and so on for the past, but for pure hate, US made it damn too easy to be hated.
don't take this personally - I have much higher issues with Russia in this regard, the country that invaded my home in 1968, killed quite a few, brought more repressions and stayed for 21 years. But US ain't some saint 'good' guy, far from that.
I'm going to take the somewhat cardboard American umbrage, but I think my position is a fair one.
For all of our American geopolitical intrigue and intelligence service &#@$ups, the United States generally does care.
In the sense that compared with other countries that could act, the United States chooses to do something.
Somalia was a failed state, but we were there trying to do what we thought was best. Iraq was run by a dictator who killed his own people (caveat: yes, domestic and international audiences were lied to about WMD facts), but we were there trying to do what we thought was best. Continental Europe was occupied by the Nazis, but we were there trying to do what we thought was best. Swathes of the Pacific were occupied by Imperial Japan, but we were there trying to do what we thought was best.
It's easy to say "That's an ocean away, doesn't concern us, and isn't our business." Even when people are being murdered or exploited. Nobody points a finger and says "Why didn't you act when it was happening?"
But if we're being honest and fair, then there's zero utility in comparing how well Switzerland is liked vs the US or Russia. It's a hell of a lot easier to make friends if you never enter a competition.
I think we can agree the US often acts like a douchebag and that it has a lot of passionate haters, but the fact is that there are not that many great countries in the world.
It's true that the US is not number #1 in a lot areas and I really believe that's a good thing. The whole world should improve, not just the US. Inequality is at the root of a lot of evil in this world.
[0] http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/06/23/1-americas-global-image/
A super power like the Roman empire would have won the Afghanistan war for sure. But in a different way.
You would know this, how? Look at the butchery in Syria and tell me how people respond to genocidal despots.
By the way, the losses of the US in the Vietnam war were minimal too. They lost 60.000 People. In the 10 years or what, I assume they lost more people in traffic accidents and suicides. Just to put numbers a little bit into perspective.
I am talking about US oligarchy.
US people (on a personal level) are just like other people of the world: Most of them are good, some less that. And they themselves suffer from many problems the US oligarchy (through imperial means) causes outside of the US.
Daughters and sons who go to US military, they are patriots who want to serve their country and its people. But then they are sent to wars for resources, pipeline routes, geostrategic interests. And they come back in body bags, maimed, or suffer some physical or psychical ailment. Only to find out that their father has lost his job, or that their mother's insurance won't cover the costs for her treatment, or that no one cares for her/him (the former soldier).
Where ever I go in the world, I remind people that we all are in the same boat.
The parent comment is valid when taking about the 'US oligarchy' too.
I actually find your comment funny.
But, please, don't compare me with Chomsky.
The term "color revolution" didn't exist until the early 2000s.
US empire and its vassals (other NATO members)
NATO countries aren't in any meaningful way "vassals" of the US.
Might I suggest... reading a bit more broadly? To get like you know, a better grip on basic narrative history? Whatever sources you've been drawing from -- it seems you've got the polemics down pat, but your basic geopolitical awareness appears to be quite stunted.
(1) Yes, the first color revolution was in 2000 in Serbia. And that sentence should have started with "Since" instead of "In". But the three things I've listed in it are undisputed.
(2) Since the NATO was founded, the Commander is always an US General. Who is, while being the NATO Commander, still on the Pentagon payroll. And those on Pentagon payroll are under the command of the US President. No other President/Prime Minister of a NATO member state has that power. Next, look at the NATO troop concentration on the Russian border. It is undisputed that NATO is expanding towards Russia. It is undisputed that continental European countries have interest in dialog and cooperation with Russia. But they must follow the US oligarchy.
(3) Your last paragraph brings out the suspicion that you swallow the interpretation of widely known history others have chewed for you. You seem to devalue everything that doesn't fit the official narrative. And you get personal. But, no offense taken: Been there, done that. Since 2003 I have started looking at historical facts and interpreting them while asking myself "Cui bono" (Who benefits). And then patterns started to emerge. Patterns of Anglo-american hegemony in the last 150 years. Later I've found the works of Carroll Quigley and Anthony Sutton (to name two greats) who have confirmed what I've interpreted while expanding my knowledge in other areas. Also, reading Zbigniew Brzezinski helped. By the way, it is he who speaks of US vassals. But if you really want to learn lesser known historical facts then, probably, the best place to start is Brzezinski's inspiration: Halford Mackinder and his Heartland Theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_Hist...)
To end this post, I'll quote a man who knew what he talked about, George F. Kennan: "Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy." (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_F._Kennan)
The people of Pakistan are hugely skeptical and wary of this 'alliance' and have long felt they have been used, there is deep resentment, so it's not even slightly surprising they are looking to align themselves with those whose reputation is less sullied (in their view) than the US's.
I presume US couldn't swallow that somebody like to be rather independent though and bow into submission during cold war, ie 'if you're not with us you are against us' mentality
It's stupid from Chinese to act like there is already hostility between them, when they could act as partners that have literally 1/3 of global population and dominate the region.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat#History 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali#Ancient
No Indian empire invaded or controlled SE Asia. The influence of Buddhism and Hinduism in Bali and Cambodia is testament to the influence of Indian philosophy and belief not might.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/It-wasnt-China-but-...
FTFY
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Pakistan_relatio...
China has been an ally of Pakistan for a long time.
> parallel international institutions that [the Chinese] are developing that will compete with the IMF
http://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2016/09/29/AM16-NA093016...
China wants just an ally in the back of India. This is understandable from a Chinese perspective. But Pakistan is a moslems country and China has enough problems with its own moslems. If you have been in Xinjiang province: The level of security is astonishing. I wonder about the costs of maintaining this and long term stability.
but I agree with the other comment below OP, IMF & WB have destroyed economies that threatened US interests, ex. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Ireland, so on. There is a clear pattern of market manipulation and subsequent destruction and using that chaos to reign them closer to US interests.
We should all but expect the same from China but with much less subtleness.
Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc.
Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
No, It's really not helping locals.
By the way, where in West Africa are you? I'm asking because the perception of China in West African countries is among the highest in the world, with only 10-20% unfavorable view, compared to 45-70% in Europe and North America [0].
Is it possible that you are projecting your own perception of China? Is it possible that your perception is influenced by Western media?
Color me skeptical...
[0] http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/chapter-2-chinas-image/
> According to her data, the top 20 African nations in which China is involved include not only commodity-rich nations such as Nigeria and South Africa, but commodity-poor nations like Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
> the largest deals — which tend to be government-to-government — do in fact involve infrastructure projects and natural resources. Those are the deals that make headlines. But, she asserted, they tend to skew the total reality. When looking at all Chinese firms that invested in Africa between 1998 and 2012, she said a picture emerges of small- and medium-sized private Chinese firms whose activities have nothing to do with commodities. “The number-one industry, in fact, is in services. It’s business services; it’s wholesale and retail,”
There's a separate question of how robust the environmental controls, etc. are - but a lot of that is up to the local governments.
They're going to take the sweet deals rather than the more onerous US terms and all their requirements.
The article below is a great read - it talks about how the African nations are including more stipulations in deals - such as quotas for local employment, educational investment etc.
[0] http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/chinas-investment...
That's a very sinister comment, when China builds a road, it's all about grabbing resources and can not help the locals in anyway? Are the locals banned from using these roads? Are there no jobs created in those country because of these projects?
The cartoonist and author Ted Rall has visited Central Asia many times.
Here's a partial list of projects being funded in Pakistan by China.[2] China's government seems determined to get a land linkup to Europe. Yet this isn't the main "New Silk Road" route - that's further north, through Iran and Iraq.[3] With all the wars in that area, China apparently sees a need to have multiple alternate routes for trade. Good thinking in Beijing.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_the_Karakora... [2] http://boi.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/List%20of%20MoUs.docx [3] http://www.xinhuanet.com/silkroad/english/index.htm
If it would be economically viable to have the same thing manufactured in Xinjiang or Qinghai, and shipped by road, it would be a huge boost for those areas. Especially if linked through Pakistan's road network to sea ports, bringing easy access to Middle East, Europe, Africa as ships would no longer have to navigate via Singapore.
An in reverse, it would be a huge diversification of import routes for commodities could come in via another route. Not oil specifically, but all kinds of bulk. Bulk carries of commodities are far less efficient than oil ships, the largest with a capacity of 100,000 tons but 30-60k capacity more common (far less than the capacity of a supertanker). So commodities needed to develop the west of China now have a simpler, more efficient route.
The KKH has greatly helped reduced the poverty and its a vital resource for us and all the remote communities.
"Violence has been a part of life here since Pakistan and India were partitioned in 1947" >> absolutely wrong , its started after US started funding Taliban after late 90s and now its completely peaceful.
"the signs of the cheapness of life are everywhere—starving children and maimed old men line the sidewalks" >> there is poverty but not that much as forcefully describe here.
"more than 10,000 people have been shot, bombed and lynched there during the ‘90s alone" >> Ask who was behind it ? and you will get name , who funded cold-war, .. just the same b.s again ..
"A stone’s throw from the Line of Control between Pakistani- and Indian-held Kashmir" >> I dont have any good words, there is not a single place where we are so exposed to LOC crossfire.It could be Kashmir but not Gilgit-Baltistan(GB).
Lots of lies and biased commentary .. take it with grain of salt.
I am pretty sure Ted Rall will agree with you that meddling from foreign empires, like the US, causes violence in Central Asia.
The Taiwan policy has been pretty good over the last many decades, and there have been other interludes of excellence, such as that offer to Marcos ("you can live in the US and enjoy the spoils of your crimes in peace if you move NOW and PEACEFULLY"). I'm sure there are more.
If we look at casualties, the US 400k pales in comparison to the to the 26 million of the Soviet Union[1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#Human_...
More than an Indian ocean port (which could be blockaded by India in case of a war with either of Pakistan or China), this will connect China by road with Middle East Asia and other Central Asian states; China hopes this connectivity will boost trade in the future.
This project is undertaken with the intent to engage the excess capacity of the engineering firms that have grown and matured over the years with China's economic surge in the last three decades. These companies have the expertise, technology and project management expertise—to build roads, dams, bridges, tunnels, rails, trains, engines, steel, cement and myriad other things—but doesn't have any takers as they had earlier because of the economic slowdown in China.
Another reading is that China has lots of Capital which it can invest abroad but not at home. With the overheated economy at home it is wiser to redeploy it in countries with friendly disposition to Chinese investments.
If all goes well China can get a new avenue for its products. Even if none of it works it is not too bad, as China will get the host governments indebted. Sri Lanka[1], with its Hambantota port project, can be considered as an example.
[1]: http://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/11/17/sri-lanka...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_and_Kashmir_(princely_st...
http://qz.com/841803/morocco-wants-to-build-a-new-city-from-...
They just finished building a Huge bridge near the city of Rabat.
http://www.thearabweekly.com/Economy/5954/Rabat%E2%80%99s-ca...
http://thediplomat.com/2016/11/china-and-sri-lanka-between-a...
(Of course, facilitating trade is of secondary importance to the geopolitical aim of gaining influence in Pakistan by making it more dependent on Chinese money and less dependent on western capital markets or western multilateral organisations.)
Anything that gets China more positively engaged with the rest of the world is good, because it makes China more interested in international stability, property rights and the rule of law. Eventually I think China will come to realize that, as a major investor and driver of economic development around the world, their interests align very closely with those of the west.
This is such a crucial point. No one in the world needs an unstable, angsty nuclear-armed state.
>think China will come to realize that, as a major investor and driver of economic development around the world, their interests align
I think China realized long ago that being prosperous while having hungry neighbors on its doorstep is not really conducive to regional peace. They actually prop up NK exactly for this reason I believe.
It's unlikely for one to hear such complaints against China, as China will nip any dissent in the bud, with an iron fist. The great Chinese censor and censure machinery will soon hold a tight grip around the citizens, media and politics of Pakistan. Happy 2017 and beyond!