Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday arrived in Pakistan to launch projects linking the allies worth US$46 billion, a figure that would far exceed US spending in Pakistan and underscores China’s economic ambitions in Asia and beyond.
The infrastructure and energy projects are aimed at establishing a Pakistan-China “economic corridor” between Pakistan’s southern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea and China’s western Xinjiang region.
The plan is part of China’s aim to forge “Silk Road” land and sea ties to markets in the Middle East and Europe, and reflects a shift of economic power in the region to China, Pakistani Parliament defense committee chairman Mushahid Hussain Sayed said.
“Pakistan, for China, is now of pivotal importance. This has to succeed and be seen to succeed,” he said.
The corridor, a network of roads, railways and pipelines, is to pass through Pakistan’s poor Baluchistan Province, where a long-running separatist insurgency, which the army has again vowed to crush, will raise doubts about the feasibility of the plan.
The security of Chinese workers is a prime concern for Xi. In talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and military leaders, Xi is also likely to raise China’s fears that Muslim separatists from Xinjiang are teaming up with Pakistani militants.
“Our cooperation in the security and economic fields reinforce each other, and they must be advanced simultaneously,” Xi said in a statement to media on the eve of his two-day visit.
Xi is expected to call for greater efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where Pakistan is keen to restrict the influence of its rival, India.
China is set to provide up to US$37 billion in investment for the energy projects to generate 16,400 megawatts of power, Pakistani Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said.
Concessional loans are to cover nearly US$10 billion of infrastructure projects.
The US has given US$31 billion to Pakistan since 2002, according to the US Congressional Research Service. About two-thirds was earmarked for security.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS