ISLAMABAD, November 22: Dismissing Washington’s warning to Islamabad over Beijing’s giant infrastructure push, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing has said that Pakistan-China relations were based on “win-win cooperation” and were mutually beneficial for both countries.
US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Alice Wells had warned Pakistan that it would face long-term economic damage with little return if China kept pursuing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – heralded as a game-changer by both Asian countries.
The top US diplomat for South Asia said the CPEC would profit only Beijing, adding that the United States offered a better model. “It’s clear, or it needs to be clear, that CPEC is not about aid,” she said in a statement issued on Friday.
Addressing the 5th CPEC Media Forum in Islamabad later in the day, Ambassador Jing said China had always come forward to assist Pakistan in need without any political or government differences. He said if Pakistan was in need, China would never ask it to repay its loans in time, whereas, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is mainly governed by the West, was strict in its repayment system.
“Why the US suspended its aid promised for Pakistan only because of political priorities,” he questioned.
Expressing astonishment over the US diplomat’s statement of higher tariff in power plants, established under CPEC, the Chinese envoy said that he himself had earlier briefed Wells about the tariff structure of these power plants, which he added, was the lowest among all the countries benefiting from China’s electricity.
“In 2013, when Chinese companies were establishing power plants in Pakistan, where was the US? Why it did not invest in Pakistan’s power sector despite knowing that the country was in dire need of electricity.”
Commenting on US allegation of corruption in CPEC projects, Yao Jing said it was easy to allege without presenting evidence. He said he discussed the matter with a number of concerned stakeholders including the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but did not find even a single evidence of corruption in any CPEC project. – Agencies
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