Last year, an Amsterdam based think tank had predicted that Pakistan will end up being a colony of China. The European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), a think tank based out of Amsterdam, said in an article that Pakistan faces the danger of being colonized by China. The article further states that the ‘all-weather friend’ of Pakistan is using China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as an instrument to colonize the country just as British used the East India Company to colonize the country. As per the article, “The ultimate aim of the CPEC project is to ensure deep Chinese penetration of Pakistani institutions leading up to a situation where Pakistan eventually turns into a colony dependent on China for its day-to-day survival.”
The prediction seems coming true as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, who is on four day official visit to China was received by Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Committee of CPPCC, Li Lifeng. Prime Minister of a country being received by Deputy Secretary of a city municipal committee is what a state like Pakistan can expect from its powerful masters like China. As per the protocols, a foreign dignitary should be received by equivalent counterpart. Imran Khan should have been received by Chinese premier Xi Jinping but this did not happen. This is clear indication of the fact that China does not treat them as equals. This speaks volumes about Pakistan’s stature as an ally in the Chinese opinion. “China is our closest friend and ‘iron brother’,” said Imran Khan. But if the countries are ‘iron brothers’, he would have been received by Xi Jinping and not the Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Committee of CPPCC.
Pakistan’s economy is already in shambles, no one is sure if it will be able to pay the huge loans ($5 billion in last one year) China has provided to them. Pakistan has already defaulted on the previous loans given to them by the Chinese but China keeps investing in the country because they want to counter India through Pakistan.
Pakistani PM would attend the ongoing Belt and Road Summit and would request its master to resume the funding of the CPEC project. China is hosting Belt and Road Forum in Beijing from 25th to 27th April and the heads of states of 37 nationalities have confirmed their presence. China has stopped the funding of CPEC projects due to rampant corruption in the use of funds. Since the Imran Khan government came to power, various differences have emerged between both countries over the usefulness of the project.
The fate of Pakistan in CPEC will not be any different from that of Sri Lanka in Hambantota port on Sri Lanka’s southern coast. At the end of 2017, Sri Lanka was struggling to pay the debt of Chinese firms and in return, they have leased the Hambantota port to them. Chinese firms are developing infrastructure throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe under the One Belt One Road (OBOR) programme. When these countries will not be able to repay the loans for the infrastructure projects, Chinese firms will take over them in the same manner as they did in Sri Lanka. The OBOR project is being used as foreign policy tool of China to colonize the countries across the continents.
