Terrorist attacks dampen Chinese interest in key corridor project with Pakistan

Political instability, economic distress in the country causing serious delays, say analysts

- Lim Min Zhang

On June 5 in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that he was willing to work together on an "upgraded version" of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

But beyond the rhetoric, a growing number of terrorist attacks against Chinese interests in recent years have dampened Beijing's enthusiasm for the CPEC, which has faced serious delays because of Pakistan's political instability and economic distress, analysts said.

This is despite the CPEC's strategic significance for China, which, if successful, provides a transport and energy route to South Asia and the Middle East that avoids the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea.

The US$62 billion (S$83.8 billion) flagship project is a 3,000km network of roads, railways and pipelines that links China's western Xinjiang region with the Pakistani port of Gwadar.

The project has been hailed as a centrepiece of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a vast infrastructure scheme that aims to boost trade and connectivity with China across Asia, Europe and Africa.

But local opposition to the CPEC in Pakistan and security concerns have continued to bog down the project.