China playing with fire on terrorism issues

My article China playing with fire on terrorism issues appeared in the Edit Page of The Pioneer.

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Ambiguity on what constitutes ‘terrorism’ can have serious implications for the future of the Middle Kingdom, not only for its restive Provinces, but also for Xi's ‘dream' project of a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

China is gambling. In this dangerous pursuit, Beijing can lose its stakes and more. It believes that Masood Azhar, the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind, does not qualify to be listed as a ‘terrorist’ by the UN; his case “does not meet the Security Council’s requirements”, says Beijing. At the same time, when convenient for the communist leadership, the peace-loving Dalai Lama is branded as a ‘terrorist’.
When asked the reason for China’s decision in the UN Sanctions Committee to place Azhar’s name on ‘technical hold’, Liu Jieyi, China’s Permanent Representative to the UN explained: “Any listing would have to meet the requirements for blacklisting. It is the responsibility of all members of the council to make sure that these requirements are followed.”
Beijing probably believes that it is its responsibility to block Azhar’s name, and this, at a time when China, one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation Council, assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council (for April).
Hong Lei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesman supported his colleague in New York: Such issues should be based on facts and rules in an “objective and just manner.”
Though the UN banned the JeM in 2001, Azhar who masterminded the 2008 Mumbai terror attack has always been ‘protected’ by China’s veto power. In the long run however, it is doubtful if the gamble of defending terrorism will pay for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Moreover, ambiguity on what constitutes ‘terrorism’ could only bring serious troubles to China, which has not hesitated to put the Dalai Lama on the ‘terrorist’ list in the past.
In December 2015, Zhu Weiqun, the Chairman of the Chinese Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee told The Global Times that the Dalai Lama “exposed in his very bones, his sympathy or endorsement for Islamic State.” In an interview, the Tibetan leader had merely said that one should listen to the youth joining the IS to understand their motivations.
Zhu went on to say that the Dalai Lama has “never given up violence in his political way of life”. According to Zhu, he has been inciting Buddhist Tibetans to self-immolate. Ironically the Tibetan monk had told La Stampa, that Islam was a ‘religion of peace’. Today, for China, the Dalai Lama is a terrorist and Masood Azhar is not. In what kind of world are we living?
In March, after the Dalai Lama met some other Nobel Peace prize laureates in Geneva, Zhu affirmed that after receiving the prize, the Dalai Lama has been ‘increasingly rampant’ [sic] and has pursued “Tibetan Independence and violent terrorism, leading to the deadly riot in Lhasa on March 14, 2008.”
Reuters commented: “The attempt to identify the Dalai Lama as an Islamic State sympathiser also follows weeks of taunting on the part of IS, beginning in earnest with a full-page spread in the jihadi organisation’s magazine, Dabiq, announcing the beheading of Chinese hostage Fan Jinghui.” The IS had then released its first Mandarin-language jihadi ‘song’, urging Chinese nationals to join them in Syria and Iraq.
To club the Dalai Lama with jihad may not help Beijing to combat true terrorism. But, if Beijing is blind enough to equate the Dalai Lama and Masood Azhar, this could have serious implications for the future of the Middle Kingdom, not only for its restive provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang, but also for Xi’s mega ‘dream’ project of a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
In April 2015, as President Xi arrived in Pakistan, The Washington Post remarked: “Xi arrived in Islamabad bearing real gifts: An eye-popping $46 billion worth of planned energy and infrastructure investment to boost Pakistan’s flagging economy.” A Chinese dream for Islamabad?
Billboards in Chinese and English were euphoric in Islamabad, the friendship between China and Pakistan was ‘higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, sweeter than honey, and stronger than steel.’
The CPEC will eventually link up Xi’s two pet projects, the New Silk Roads (one road one belt); the Chinese-sponsored port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea will be connected through the Karakoram Highway, to the Xinjiang Province in China’s Far West and Central Asia… and later Middle East, Africa and Europe. The ‘corridor’ will have railways, roads, optical fiber cables, dams (to produce the necessary electricity), pipelines, etc.
Observers are aware that Beijing’s kindness and generosity will ultimately and primarily benefit Beijing. Pakistan, China’s ‘eternal friend’, is the perfect ‘partner’ (or vassal?); it is geographically ideally positioned with an access to the sea in the south and to Central Asia in the north.
By buying Pakistan’s allegiance, Beijing believes that after linking the belt and the road, it will be able to control and dominate Asia.
Before he arrived in Islamabad, Xi wrote that the bilateral relationship ‘has flourished like a tree growing tall and strong’. It is very touching, but China should realise that it may not get only ‘good things’ from the project. For the terrorist groups, the doors to Xinjiang, already prone to Islamic fundamentalism (fired by Han chauvinism), will be wide open.
It is not only goods which will circulate faster on the dream corridor, Azhar and his friends are bound to open new recruitment centres in the ‘fertile’ land of Xinjiang. In February, an excellent article on Gwadar in The Guardian mentioned: “Ensuring security on long stretches of road in a Province wracked by a persistent, low-level insurgency is the biggest challenge to the CPEC. Fear of being outnumbered by outsiders from the rest of Pakistan is fuelling a violent rebellion in Balochistan.”
The populations around some of the CPEC’s nodes are already resentful of the Chinese; this could rapidly fuel more terrorism. For Pakistan, the value of the planned projects, if implemented, would be equivalent to 17 per cent of Pakistan’s 2015 gross domestic product. But has Islamabad (or Beijing) taken into account the gross domestic terrorism? By refusing to list Massood Azhar, Beijing has already lost a battle.
And it is really foolish for China to think that it can ‘purchase’ some of the terror leaders, like the CIA did with the Taliban decades ago. Everyone knows what happened to the US schemes.
During his recent visit abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the dangers posed by terrorism to the world; if the UN is unable to address such crucial challenges, “the global body could be rendered irrelevant,” said Modi who rightly added: “The world was jolted by 9/11. Till then the world powers did not understand what India was going through.”
He further said that it was unfortunate that the UN was still unable to define terrorism. If it wants to play a significant role on the world scene, it is time for China to learn the definition of ‘terrorism’.
Perhaps, during his forthcoming visit to Beijing, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar could explain this to the Chinese leadership.

I am going to visit the home of my own brother, says Xi

The world press has focused on the enormity of the ‘gifts’ that President Xi Jinping brought in his luggage as he landed in Islamabad.
The Washington Post remarked: “Xi arrived in Islamabad bearing real gifts: an eye-popping $46 billion worth of planned energy and infrastructure investment to boost Pakistan's flagging economy. This would include adding some 10,400 megawatts to Pakistan's national grid through coal, nuclear and renewable energy projects.”
This sounds like a Chinese Dream for Islamabad!
Beijing has decided to help Pakistan to develop a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which will eventually link up its pet project, the two New Silks Roads (also known as ‘One Belt, One Road’).
In other words, the Chinese-sponsored port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea will be connected through the Karakoram Highway, to the Xinjiang province in China’s Far West and Central Asia …and later Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The ‘corridor’ will have railways, roads, optical fiber cables, dams (to produce the necessary electricity), pipelines, you name it!
Observers marveled at Beijing kindness (and wealth), but you should not be fooled by the Chinese generosity: Beijing is investing for Beijing!
China, which is facing financial difficulties at home, with a slowdown of the economic engine, has devised a double Roads scheme to rebalance its own economy and perhaps more importantly, to become the sole leader of Asia. The two Silk Roads project and the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank have to be seen in this perspective.
Pakistan, China’s good friend, is the perfect ‘partner’ (or vassal state, if you look from another angle). It is geographically ideally positioned with an access to the sea in the South and to Central Asia in the North.
In 1946-47, as the British were ready to depart the subcontinent, they devised a way to keep their influence in Asia and the world. During the previous two centuries, the defence of the Empire had been centered on the Indian subcontinent and the Indian Ocean (also known as the British lake). The British chiefs of staff had submitted a report on the strategic consequences of Britain’s departure from India; the generals agreed that Pakistan was crucial for the Empire to keep its influence; more important than the other future dominion (India), was the Islamic State which could provide air bases in the north of the country (to control Soviet Union) and naval bases opening to the Arabian Sea in the south. A brotherly contact with the Muslim states in the Middle East was an added bonus.
It explains why London put its stakes on Pakistan.
The dies were cast in May 1947, when the chiefs of staff filed their final report: "From the strategic point of view there were overwhelming arguments in favour of West Pakistan remaining within the Commonwealth, namely that we should obtain important strategic facilities..."
Subsequently this policy was implemented, partly with the unknowing (not to say foolish) collaboration of the Congress Party.
Today, China is in the same position as the British at the time of India’s independence. By buying Pakistan’s allegiance, Beijing believes that it will be able to control and dominate Asia by linking the Belt and the Road.
A discredited and financially broke Islamabad, is only too happy to rely on their ‘dependable’ friend (as per Nawaz Sharif’s words, when he received Xi Jinping).
Billboards in Chinese and English were seen in Islamabad, the friendship between the Lord and the Vassal is now ‘higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, sweeter than honey, and stronger than steel.’
China plays on the credulity of their all-weather ‘friend’; in an article published in some Pakistani papers before his arrival, Xi wrote: “This will be my first trip to Pakistan, but I feel as if I am going to visit the home of my own brother.” He added that the bilateral relationship ‘has flourished like a tree growing tall and strong’. It is very touching, isn’t it?
The Washington Post sees it differently: “After all, China and Pakistan may share a border, but cultural ties between the two nations and its people are thin, to put it mildly.”
However, there is a far more serious problem faced by Beijing: Pakistan is a haven for terrorists and China likes neither terrorism, nor dissidence.
A couple of weeks ago, Beijing started a crackdown on ‘visible signs of Muslim religious observance’ among the Uighurs, the ethnic minority living in Xinjiang. A man is said to have been condemned to a six-year prison sentence for daring to grow a beard in the Muslim region.
Without even talking of extreme cases like this one, how is Beijing going to tackle the movements of terrorists from Pakistan to Xinjiang, once the ‘corridor’ is wide open to goods and people. Or will it be open only for oil, gas and raw materials? It does not make sense.
The only solution for Beijing is to twist Pakistan’s arm and make sure that terrorism stops or at least is reduced to its ‘export to Kashmir’.
On March 26, when the Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan, Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah, visited Beijing to prepare President Xi’s trip to Islamabad, the Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, General Fan Changlong pledged to ‘deepen cooperation with Pakistan in anti-terrorism, maritime security and military technology.’ Beijing is clearly nervous that their investment may be jeopardized by the jihadis. Fan told Zakaullah that China hopes to enhance coordination and cooperation with Pakistan on regional security affairs (read terrorism).
As President Xi Jinping arrived in Pakistan, he immediately met with Pakistani Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Rashad Mahmood and his colleagues of the Army, Air Force and Navy in Islamabad.
Xinhua reported: “Hailing the important role the Pakistani military has played in the development of China-Pakistan relations, Xi said that the understanding and support of the Pakistani military is necessary for the two countries to forge a community of shared destiny,” adding that “Xi spoke highly of the anti-terror cooperation between the two countries ...and staunchly back Pakistan's efforts to counter terrorism and safeguard national security.”
The message is clear, “we are going to help you, we are going to invest billions and billions of dollars to save your economy, but control the terror in your country, we are with you.”
As a bonus, China will sell eight Type 041 Yuan-class diesel-electric submarines to Pakistan for nearly US $ 5 billion. Who will pay for China’s ‘biggest-ever arms export deal’ is irrelevant (Beijing is likely to extend a long-term loan, at a low interest rate, to cover the cost for the submarines).
The sharp-tongued Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying explained: "China and Pakistan are neighbours boasting traditional friendship, and the two sides maintain normal cooperation in the military industry and arms trade."
If Islamabad manages to control terrorism infiltration along the Silk Road, it is worth the investment for Beijing; especially as Pakistan as use the subs to keep a tab on India in the Arabian Sea. If it does not happen, Beijing has a big problem.
The irony is that China may succeed where the United States and India have always failed: to control the Pakistani Army and its different branches and ultimately tackle terrorism, at least in its more blatant forms.