Anti-China sentiments developing in neighbouring countries

Islamabad [Pakistan], May 13 (ANI): Ever since Beijing started implementing its expansionist policies and crushing the voices of dissidents, the feeling of resistance is fast developing in its neighbouring countries and occupied territories.

Although neighbouring Pakistan is China's close ally, the people here are raising their voices against Beijing for its continuous exploitation of resources and violating human rights.

The Chinese working in Pakistan are facing resistance and they are being attacked several times. On April 24 three Chinese nationals and a local man were killed after what appeared to be a targeted suicide bombing in Karachi, outside the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute.

The suicide attack was carried out by Shari Baloch of Baloch Liberation Army, which opposes Chinese investment in their territory.

In 2018, the group also attacked the Chinese Consulate-General in Karachi in South Pakistan, during which two police officers were killed. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), one of the six limbs of China's Silk Road Economic Belt has been criticised as a form of colonization, that will doom Islamabad into being a vassal of Beijing.

China even rejected Pakistan Navy's security concerns over priority to speedy completion of CPEC projects in Gwadar.

The Pakistan Navy has to vacate 20 acres of prime land in Gwadar after the Cabinet Committee that oversees all CPEC-related work in Pakistan decided against the Navy.

In Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG) has also warned China's government that its engagement with the country's military Junta could seriously damage China's international reputation, just days after China's foreign minister pledged Beijing's support for the military.

The warning was issued in a statement on April 4 by the NUG's Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Wunna Maung Lwin, the Junta's Foreign Minister, in China on April 1.

The NUG stated that it was committed to good relations with China, but that this had to be constructed on the basis of the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar.

During last June, Wang met with Wunna Maung Lwin and said that "in the past, present, and future, China supports Myanmar to independently choose a development path that suits its national conditions."These comments were echoed by Wang on April 1, when he said that China "will support Myanmar in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions."Sri Lanks's economic instability is largely caused by China's debt-trap diplomacy.

Defaults over China's infrastructure-related loans to Sri Lanka, especially the financing of the Hambantota Port, are being cited as factors contributing to the crisis.

The construction of the Hambantota Port was financed by the Chinese Exim Bank. The Port was running into losses, so Sri Lanka leased out the Port for 99 years to the Chinese Merchant's Group, which paid Sri Lanka USD 1.12 billion.

Sri Lanka appears to be on the edge of a "humanitarian crisis", according to the United Nations Development Programme, as its financial troubles grow, with rising food prices, and the country's coffers having run dry.

According to World Bank estimates, five lakh people in Sri Lanka have fallen below the poverty line since the onset of the crisis.

As Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis in decades and struggles to pay loans, China turns a blind eye after ensnaring the island nation into a debt trap.

As the economic crisis took hold of Sri Lanka, India on the contrary has made a serious effort to bail out its beleaguered neighbor. Since January, it has helped Sri Lanka with USD 2.4 billion, including a USD 400 million currency swap and a USD 500-million loan deferment.

Last month, Sri Lanka signed a USD 1-billion credit line with India for the procurement of food, medicines and other essential items. Meanwhile, China has refused to offer any concessions in debt repayment.

Total debt to China stands at USD 8 billion, almost one-sixth of Sri Lanka's total external debut of USD 45 billion.

China's relations with Nepal are also weakening. In January, Nepal Airlines had grounded six Chinese-made aircrafts, saying that it was proving to be unaffordable to fly them.

These sub-standard planes delivered extremely poor serviceability rates and required heavy maintenance.

The loan from China for these aircrafts has, however, continued to haunt the airlines. Dues worth $35.1 million, at a steep interest rate along with a service charge and management expenses, are still pending.

Not only Nepal, China's supply of sub-standard military equipment to Bangladesh has also irked the Muslim majority nation.

The Bangladesh military imported two Type-035G submarines of 1970s vintage and Type-053H frigates from China, with its import dependence on Chinese hardware touching nearing 85 per cent.

Beijing had gifted two 1970s era Ming class Type-035G submarines to Bangladesh valued at $100-million each in 2017. These were later re-inducted by the Bangladesh Navy as BNS Nobojatra and BNS Joyjatra.

However, both the platforms have been lying idle due to technical issues and could not be used as intended.

The year 2020, witnessed China gifting Dhaka with two Chinese 053H3 frigates - BNS Umar Farooq and BNS Abu Ubaidah. The Type-053H3 frigates gifted to the Bangladesh Navy have defects in the fire control system as well as in the helicopter fueling and defueling system.

Defects have also been discovered in the gyro compass. Not only the neighbours, the territories under China including Xinjiang and Tibet are facing several human rights crises. This indicates that anti-China sentiments are high in the region. (ANI)