China’s cautious quest to draw Afghanistan back into the fold

Written by Sarah Godek

By increasing relations at a slower pace, China’s government makes a safer long-term bet on Afghanistan that forgoes short-run gains to ensure greater security that could protect longer-term benefits in the future.

Emerging Issues9DLAugust 23, 20249DASHLINE, China’s cautious quest to draw Afghanistan back into the fold, Sarah Godek, Afghanistan, China, Taliban, United Nations, UN, interconnectivity, connectivity, Taliban-led Afghanistan, trade, 2023 Amu Darya oil basin contract, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, Chinese government, United States, US, agriculture, critical materials, copper, lithium, Taliban ambassador, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Taliban’s political commissar, 20th Party Congress, Kabul, terror, terror attacks, Zhao Xing, Hamid Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, peace, US withdrawal, US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Central Asia, peace through engagement, mining, Mes Aynak mine, mineral reserves, cotton, pine nut, Xi Jinping, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan corridor, Kazakhstan, trans-Afghan railway project, cargo, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Vice Chairman of Tibet, Tibet, SCO, UNSC travel bans, Taliban officials, dialogue, sanctions, noninterference, internal affairs, China-Afghanistan ties, Wakhan Corridor, CPEC, suicide bombings, Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), Al Qaeda, Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement

BRI 2.0: Reflecting on the past, charting the future

Written by Kelly Antoinette Khyriem

As criticisms propel the initiative towards a BRI 2.0, if China actively addresses and mitigates risks associated with its projects by enhancing transparency and accountability frameworks, it has the potential to outpace the emerging alternatives that are challenging the BRI.

East Asia9DLMarch 29, 20249dashline, BRI 2.0: Reflecting on the past, charting the future, Kelly Antoinette Khyriem, Xi Jinping, China, PRC, Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, Maritime Silk Road, digital infrastructure, trade policy coordination, financial cooperation, multilateral institutions, Memoranda of Understanding, geopolitical strategy, domestic development, US-led international order, ‘string of pearls’ theory, Chinese investments, naval bases, Indian Ocean, crucial shipping routes, debt-trap diplomacy, BRI-related loans, Sri Lanka, economic sovereignty, debt trap narrative, governance deficiencies, corruption, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, 1MDB, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, CPEC, human rights abuses, BRI infrastructure, BRI commitments, large-scale infrastructure projects, sustainability, ecology, carbon dioxide emissions, environmental implications, EU, US, India, transparency, labour rights, EU-Asia Connectivity Strategy, Global Gateway Initiative, Blue Dot Network, Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, PGII, G20 Leaders' Summit, hydropower plants, solar farms, 5G, public-private partnerships, Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Digital Silk Road, e-commerce initiatives, BRI 2.0, Green Belt and Road, renewable energy, Clean Silk Road, Silk Road Economic Belt, Hambantota Port, Kenya, Zambia, Malaysia, debt management, digital connectivity, debt burdens, renewable energy investment, AIIB

Pakistan’s election — a primer

Written by Dr Filippo Boni

Pakistan is scheduled to hold its twelfth general election on 8 February, amid a deteriorating security situation in parts of the country, allegations of an uneven playing field against the former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party, and with China and the United States waiting to find out who will lead the next Pakistani government.

South Asia9DLFebruary 5, 20249dashline, A primer on Pakistan’s elections, Filippo Boni, Pakistan, elections, Nawaz Sharif, Hafizabad, disqualification, general election, deteriorating security situation, uneven electoral playing field, Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PTI, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, state secrets leak, imprisonment, military, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, PML-N, cricket bat logo, electoral candidates, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Peoples Party, PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, climate change, policy position, electoral campaign, media freedom, Coalition for Free Media, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, PFUJ, Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors, CPNE, Tehreek Taliban Pakistan, TTP, militant groups, Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP, Balochistan, separatist militant groups, bilateral crisis, Iran, missile strike, Islamabad, Iran-Pakistan, Iran-Pakistan tensions, borders, US, China, Sino-Pakistani bilateral ties, BRI, CPEC, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, socio-economic development, military leadership, Afghanistan, President Biden, Shahbaz Sharif, UNGA, US-Pakistan relations, domestic security, regional security

Unending hybridity: Has Shahbaz Sharif’s arrival changed Pakistan’s politics?

Written by Ayesha Siddiqa

Pakistan has just turned 75, but there is little hope in people’s hearts for a transformation from a decades-old military dominated power to a country under greater civilian control.

South Asia9DLAugust 29, 20229DashLine, Unending hybridity: Has Shahbaz Sharif’s arrival changed Pakistan’s politics?, Ayesha Siddiqa, Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan, Imran Khan, Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, Pakistan Muslim League, PMLN, Mariam Nawaz Sharif, hybrid civil-military rule, traditional patronage politics, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, civil bureaucracy, Musharraf regime, armed forces personnel, Special Committee on National Security, Nawaz Sharif, Military Land & Cantonment, Saeed Shafqat, military, civil service reforms, General Ayub Khan, Punjab, General Qamar Javed Bajwa Khan, army, Pakistan army, AYESHA SIDDIQA, Columbia, Heidelberg, Ankara, China Pakistan Economic Corridor, CPEC, National Database and Registration Authority, NADRA, Ayub Khan, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, PNSC, Javed Bajwa Khan, London

Pakistan’s drift towards China: maintaining neutrality amid great power competition

Written by Namra Naseer

So far, Pakistan has not been the main arena of US-China competition. It need not become so, specifically if the country takes effective steps to improve bilateral relations with the United States and retain its autonomy in the growing ties with China.

In Conversation with Andrea Ghiselli

The number of Chinese workers overseas created a new type of liability for Chinese policymakers because the political value of protecting the life of a citizen is vastly superior to that of, for example, ensuring the payment of a contract.

In Conversation9DLSeptember 22, 20219DASHLINE, China, UN, ANDREA GHISELLI, Europe, North Africa, Middle East, COVID, COVID19, Afghanistan, Libya, CPEC, Pakistan, Djibouti, US, United States, Xinjiang, Taliban, EU, European Union, Syria

The prospects for China’s engagement in Afghanistan

Written by Jeremy Garlick

Beijing will look to ensure first and foremost that Uygur separatists do not gain support from the Taliban. In return, they will dangle some promises of investment for the sake of generating goodwill.

Will China get embroiled in the graveyard of empires?

Written by Velina Tchakarova

It will be interesting to follow how China will navigate this playground, as Beijing is likely to be the next great power to try and fill the void. Perhaps that is exactly why the US is pulling out now — the move could possibly become an American trap if China enters the Afghan quagmire and fails.

Negotiating the BRI: Insights from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Written by Filippo Boni and Katharine Adeney

Recipient countries need to build mechanisms to ensure that technology transfers and training are integral to the development of BRI projects. Otherwise, these important issues may end up on the backburner.

Faultlines9DLJune 7, 20219dashline, China, Pakistan, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, CPEC, Xi Jinping, Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, Gwadar, Indian Ocean, Nawaz Sharif, Rashakai Special Economic Zone, Special Economic Zone, FDI, Foreign Direct Investment

India and China: Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific decade: Future scenarios — Part II

Written by Velina Tchakarova

India’s geopolitical choices are either joining the US-led bloc of predominantly Anglosphere allies and close partners such as Japan and Australia against China, or, once again, building partnerships of non-aligned middle powers that can navigate through the complex relationship between Washington and Beijing without taking sides.

In Focus9DLMay 12, 20219DASHLINE, China, India, Asia, Indo-Pacific, Asia-Pacific, South China Sea, US, United States, Indian Ocean, Dragonbear, Line of Actual Control, Himalayas, Japan, Australia, Tibet, Pangong Tso, Galwan, Demchok, Ladakh, Pakistan, Kashmir, CPEC, COVID, Covid19, Persian Gulf, Xinjiang, Central Asia, Turkey, Gwadar, Aksai Chin, BRI, Belt and Road, Russia, BRICS, RIC, Quad, CPTPP, New Cold War

What China and Iran's 25-year agreement means for South Asia

Written by Tridivesh Singh Maini

Important transport projects include a 2,300-kilometre road, which will connect Tehran with Urumqi in China's Xinjiang province. The aim of which will be to link up with the Urumqi-Gwadar highway, itself an important component of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

East Asia9DLJuly 21, 2020Iran, China, CPEC, India, Pakistan

Sino-Pakistani relations in the time of COVID-19

Written by Filippo Boni

Having made CPEC the “flagship project” of the BRI, China is keen to project the economic corridor as a success. When China has undertaken a global propaganda push, Beijing has realised that the BRI’s reputation relies on the ability to move things forward in Pakistan.

South Asia9DLApril 20, 2020China, Xi Jinping, Pakistan, CPEC, BRI