For years, Chinese and Pakistani leaders have described their relationship, forged by a common rivalry with their neighbor India, as “sweeter than honey.” But the Pakistani Army’s view of the relationship with China appears to be souring — and diverging from the political leadership’s.
Last month, after Prime Minister Imran Khan declined the Biden administration’s invitation to its Summit for Democracy, the Pakistani television news anchor Kamran Khan posted a video on social media denouncing the “wrong decision,” one he declared was made at China’s behest. (China was not invited to — or happy about — the summit.) The journalist lamented that, with that move, the prime minister had “put Pakistan openly in China’s lap.” He alleged that Beijing’s loans had “entrapped” Islamabad, and he even called for an “audit” of the pros and cons of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which has brought billions of dollars in debt-driven energy and infrastructure investment to Pakistan.
In Pakistan, press freedom and politics lie in a gray area, with red lines carefully managed by the army. With a mere phone call or WhatsApp message, colonels can whip a transgressive editor or lawmaker into line.
So the explicit call to reconsider relations with China by one of Pakistan’s most prominent media voices is no random hot take. It reflects the consent, if not the orders, of the country’s khaki masters. Indeed, Pakistan’s praetorian army would have preferred, according to a retired U.S....
Read Full Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/opinion/pakistan-united-states-china.html
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