Posted on 04/16/2007 6:24:13 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China, Pakistan team up on energy
A new China-financed port on Pakistan's coast ups the ante in the new 'Great Game' for energy resources in the Middle East and Central Asia.
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Page 1 of 3
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - If China is to become the economic powerhouse it envisions, the road to its new future could run, literally, through Pakistan.
Or so the two nations hope. Last month, they inaugurated Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan Province, the first step in an elaborate "energy corridor" that will one day ship Persian Gulf oil from Gwadar overland through Pakistan to China. China bankrolled the $200 million port and plans to put billions more into railways, roads, and pipelines linking Gwadar to China. Pakistan hopes it will generate $60 billion a year in transit fees in 20 years' time.
The deal could point to new fortunes on the horizon. But many observers wonder what price the two nations will pay for such inextricable energy ties.
Gwadar shines a spotlight on a little-studied dimension of the global showdown for the world's depleting oil. Pakistan, with Chinese money, hopes to reinvent itself as one of the region's largest energy players – but it could also become a victim of the new Great Game, some observers say, crushed in the squeeze between the American and Chinese race for influence in volatile, lucrative Central Asia.
As China positions itself as Pakistan's chief patron, that could tilt Pakistan's center of political gravity, observers add, outweighing US influence dollar for dollar – and without the strings of human rights, democracy, and counterterrorism attached.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Remember, oil is fungible. Any new supply, even if it appears to be a captive deal, impacts the price and therefore the availability of all other oil in the market.
First, the Chinese will not put up with terrorism. They will ruthlessly suppress it, and they do, for that matter. Second, and more important, this deal is typical of Pakistan’s relationship to the rest of the world. Having controlled the Kyber pass forever, they extract fees and tolls for passage. They see outsiders as travelers to be exploited. They see the US as fair weather and inconstant friends and unreliable allies.
Pakistan survives because of China’s support to it.They trust China.This port is as helpful for Pakistan in strategic terms as it is for China.
The Gwadar base is an indirect balancing move for the US base near Bishkek in Kyrgystan (next to China)
I’ve been highlighting this issue for nearly 10 years. The planning goes back at least that far. Read “Beijing’s Surge for the Strait of Malacca” and “Pakistan: Linchpin of the Trans-Asian Axis” - both on the web, free. These are whitepapers by Yossef Bodansky. He nailed it - and he did it during the early 1990s. Of course, he was ignored. Shame on those who ignored him.
Ah the Chinese ‘String Of Pearls’ strategy. Been following this myself, other than Gwader Port in Balochistan, they have a listening post at Coco Islands, Myanmar. They’re also building a port of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, though it is to be seen if there will be any PLAN presence there.
We in India are worried, prolly not enough.
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