일대일로로 휘청이는 파키스탄에 150억 불 투자하는 사우디..."중국 나 떨고 있니?" Saudi investment in Pakistan stokes tensions with China

Saudi investment in Pakistan stokes tensions with China

Riyadh's billion dollar refinery projects in Gwadar seen irking Beijing


ADNAN AAMIR, Contributing writer

JANUARY 28, 2019


QUETTA, Pakistan -- Saudi Arabia's multibillion-dollar investment in Gwadar at the southernmost tip of Pakistan is complicating Islamabad's delicate relations with Beijing.




China has poured huge amounts of money into developing the port of Gwadar, a key hub in its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, but Pakistan has now opened the door for Saudi investment in an oil refinery in the area, stoking tensions.   © AP


 

일대일로로 휘청이는 파키스탄에 150억 불 투자하는 사우디..."중국 나 떨고 있니?"


과다르 정유공장에 대규모 투자

중국 이미 대규도 사업에 투자 진퇴양란


   사우디 에너지부 장관 칼리드 알-팔리히가 1월 15일 파키스탄 과다르에 있는 정유공장 부지를 방문했다. 파키스탄의 하룬 샤리프 투자 이사회 의장은 사우디 아라비아가 향후 3년 내에 약 150억 달러를 이 나라에 투자할 것으로 예상된다고 언론에 말했다.


과다르는  아라비아해의 해안도시로, 중국이 중국-파키스탄 경제 회랑 프로젝트를 위해 전략적으로 중요한 항구를 개발하기 위해 많은 투자를 해온 지역이다. CPEC는 파키스탄 전체를 아우르는 고속도로, 철도, 에너지 인프라 네트워크를 포함하고 있으며 시진핑 주석의 벨트와 도로 구상의 대표적인 프로젝트다.




과다르 개발에 사우디아라비아를 포함시키겠다는 파키스탄의 결정은 중국이 이미 엄청난 양의 돈과 자원을 쏟아 부었기 때문에 논란이 되고 있다. 수십억 달러 규모의 새로운 투자는 리야드가 중국의 경제적 아성을 무너뜨릴 여지를 남겨줄 것으로 예상된다고 전문가들은 말했다.


황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 큐레이터

Ki Cheol Hwang, conpaper editor, curator


edited by kcontents


China is wary of the increasing Saudi presence in their strategically important neighbor as Riyadh prepares to sign an agreement to build Pakistan's largest oil refinery when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Islamabad next month.


Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih visited the proposed site for the oil refinery in Gwadar on Jan. 15. Pakistan's Board of Investment Chairman Haroon Sharif told media that Saudi Arabia is expected to invest around $15 billion in the country in the next three years.


Gwadar is a coastal town on the Arabian Sea and where China has invested heavily to develop a strategically important port for its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects. The CPEC includes a network of highways, railways and energy infrastructure that span the entire Pakistan and is a signature project of President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.


Pakistan's decision to involve Saudi Arabia in the development of Gwadar is controversial because Beijing has already poured huge amounts of money and resources there. The multibillion-dollar new investment is expected leave space for Riyadh to break Beijing's economic stronghold, experts said.


Heavy-duty cranes towering above the first, 602-meter long quay of the port of Gwadar in Balochistan, in the southernmost tip of Pakistan.   © AP


China doesn't like Saudi Arabia's encroachment in Pakistan, said Mohan Malik, a professor at Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. But he also added that "Beijing cannot be averse to sharing the burden of propping up Pakistan with Saudi Arabia at a time of dwindling economic assistance from the United States."


There is also concern over Chinese companies being blocked out by Saudi in Gwadar. "[Saudi oil refinery] might elbow out Chinese energy companies from similar endeavors, undermining China's own economic gains from BRI," said Luke Patey, senior research fellow of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies at the University of Oxford.


Islamabad's decision to invite Saudi Arabia, however, is also seen as its plan to diversify financial and economic sources. "Pakistan does not want to put all of its eggs in one basket, " said Malik Siraj Akbar, a Balochistan analyst based in Washington. "Pakistan's strategy to diversify its sources of financial support will reduce its dependence on one single country."




Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been knocking on the doors of many countries, trying to get the assistance needed for development as well as financial help to overcome a balance of payment crisis. In addition to the International Monetary Fund and China, Pakistan has been seeking assistance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The prime minister is set to visit Qatar for the first time at the end of this month.


The expanding presence of Saudi Arabia in Gwadar is also irritating Pakistan's western neighbor Iran.


The site of the proposed oil refinery in Gwadar is just 70 km from the border of the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan. This Iranian province, populated by ethnic Sunni-Baloch, faces terrorist attacks. Tehran blames Saudi Arabia for supporting Sunni-Baloch militant groups against Iran which is majority Shia Muslim.


China's One Belt, One Road in PAKISTAN/zeenews.india.com

edited by kcontents


"[Growing presence in Gwadar] would heighten concerns about Saudi designing to foment trouble in neighboring Sistan-Baluchistan province in order to further contain Iran," Malik said.




If Saudi presence is not confined to economic activities and used as political leverage, Islamabad risks jeopardizing Chinese investments in CPEC and elsewhere in the country, said Malik Siraj Akbar. "This approach will make the region a hub of renewed tensions and violent clashes between local Iranian and Saudi proxies."


Apart from irking China and Iran, the proposed Saudi investments in Gwadar are also creating domestic political problems.


During a parliamentary session on Jan. 14, legislators from Balochistan -- home province of Gwadar -- threatened to protest during the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince. "We will tell the Saudi [crown] prince that Balochistan is not for sale and that elected representatives of the [Gwadar] port city have not been taken on board regarding the [oil refinery] development activities," said Aslam Bhootani, a National Assembly member from Gwadar.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/Saudi-investment-in-Pakistan-stokes-tensions-with-China




Is China's new 'Silk Road' project helpful or harmful?

From the BBC World Service... China is six years into a trillion-dollar plan known as the One Belt One Road initiative. Like the ancient Silk Road before it, the idea is to establish new lines of business by connecting Asia with the Middle East, Africa and Europe. We'll hear how Beijing is lending countries like Pakistan billions of dollars to build much needed infrastructure projects, but can the recipients afford the debt? Then, America's financial watchdog is investigating Japanese carmaker Nissan over executive pay.  Plus, Brazil's courts have frozen $3 billion of assets belonging to the mining giant Vale to ensure the company pays for damages caused by a dam collapse that's left 58 people dead and 300 missing.

http://www.wunc.org/post/chinas-new-silk-road-project-helpful-or-harmful

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