China Must Dismantle its CPEC in Occupied Baluchistan
After claiming responsibility for the attack on Cofucius Institute within the University of Karachi on Tuesday that killed three Chinese teachers and a Pakistani driver, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), warned China of more deadly attacks.
Now Chinese are urging the Pakistani government to take immediate and firm actions on protecting Chinese nationals and projects and to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts.
Pakistan is saying that it is working hard to investigate the case to bring the perpetrators to justice. Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism against India since last 30 years and China has been supporting Pakistan in all this.
Now Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Thursday that Terrorism is the shared enemy of all humans. That China and Pakistan have the resolve and capability to cut the black hands of terrorists and make them pay the price.
“The Pakistani government has promised to strengthen safety for Chinese nationals, projects and organizations. We will not allow any force to sabotage the great China-Pakistan friendship and cooperation. We believe Pakistan will take stronger measures to ensure smooth China-Pakistan cooperation. Any attempts to destroy this cooperation will be smashed by the two peoples,” said Wang.
On Tuesday, soon after the blast, the BLA announced responsibility, posted the picture of the woman who committed the suicide attack, and boasted it was the first time a woman had “self sacrificed” for the group. According to Afghan journalist Bashir Ahmad Gwakh, the female bomber was a 30-year-old woman who had a Master’s degree in Zoology and MPhil in education while teaching at a school.
Yasir Habib Khan, founder and president of the Institute of International Relations and Media Research in Pakistan, said that the BLA’s warning is not new. “Rooted in the few last years, it threatened peace and security and now has been exacerbated by shifting its target from security forces to Chinese nationals in Pakistan to grab international attention.”
Already there are many security paradigms in place to ensure the security of Chinese people working in Pakistan that further may be beefed up by increasing intelligence sharing and relevant paraphernalia.
Yasir Habib Khan noted that aside from beefing up protection on Chinese people in Pakistan, there should be a national reconciliation plan to calm down separatist groups through political negotiation, and the process should involve the grassroots leadership in Balochistan, not just political elites.
Pakistan also needs to carry out the deradicalization process by uplifting the lives of locals in Balochistan, the Pakistani expert suggested.
The two major issues – religious extremism and separatism – remain big problems for the Pakistani government. Aside from cooperating with China on countering terrorism, the Pakistani government also needs to improve the education of the public to help them avoid being easily coaxed and incited by terrorists.
The violent attack targeting Chinese teachers is just a warning. The BLA said in a statement in English that “Hundreds of highly trained male and female members of the Baloch Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade are ready to carry out deadly attacks in any part of Balochistan and Pakistan.” He continued to threaten China that “even harsher” attacks will be made if it does not halt projects in Pakistan.
The total number of the BLA exceed 6,000 and its Majeed Brigade has more than 500 people. Young people with higher education and humble origins have taken the place of the older leaders. Compared with senior members, who are tribal leaders and may yield to the Pakistani government and military, these young people are more stubborn and make more varied attacks that are hard to prevent.
In the Karachi terror attack, both terrorist and victims were teachers. The joining of women with higher education to the BLA shows how grim the exploitation by Pakistan has become in occupied areas. More similar attacks may be made given the BLA’s determination in driving out the Pakistani invaders and Chinese looters.
In the threat, the BLA depicts China as a looter – a similar narrative used by the US, which shows it is highly possible that the terrorist group has supporters behind it. China is already claiming that the BLA is being funded by the enemies of Pakistan. As oer them both India and the US are behind the BLA and some leaders of the BLA have taken refuge in the West. They are against the development of Pakistan, and CPEC is a prime target. By attacking Chinese nationals in Pakistan, “enemies want to drive a wedge between China and Pakistan” and sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Belt and Road Initiative and bring chaos in the region. They also believe such chaos will spread to China, dragging China into conflicts to interfere with its peaceful rise.
The terror attack at the Confucius Institute within the University of Karachi and the following threat may mean a new round of terror attacks, and the possibility of the BLA using women and children for suicide attacks is greatly increasing. They may also collude with foreign forces to target Chinese in Pakistan, which we should be on high alert for and make precautions.
Aside from the increasing threat to Chinese from the BLA, it is noted that since the second half of last year, the Pakistani Taliban, “East Turkistan Islamic Movement,” IS and other forces have had rampant activities, making the situation in Pakistan worse.
Actually China-Pakistan cooperation and projects of the CPEC have devastated the local economic development, brought down the local residents’ income and therefore all this has further led to extremism and separatism. This is one of the reasons that such extremist groups are targeting China.
Hours after the tragedy on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad released a security notice, warning Chinese nationals to not go out unless necessary. On Tuesday afternoon, the new PM visited the Chinese Embassy to express his condolences to the victims and wrote a message, vowing to do whatever it takes to bring the perpetrators to justice. On Wednesday, the day Pakistan’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was sworn into the post, he also visited the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan and said the cabinet decided to ensure security of Chinese citizens.
Instead of trying to further exploit the illegally occupied areas, China must immediately stop all projects and dismantle all its infrastructure in Occupied Baluchistan and illegally occupied areas of India that is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. China should be fully aware that by its CPEC in POK it has violated India’s Sovereignty. China must also vacate illegally occupied areas in Indian UT of Ladhak too.
