Mar. 1, 2013 (TSR) – China’s takeover of the Gwadar port in Pakistan represents an economic maneuver that is in line with the interests of the two countries, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Pakistan handed the management of the port over to China Overseas Holdings Limited on Feb. 18, leading some foreign media to speculate that the port could be used by the Chinese military.
“These comments have distorted the facts and disturbed relations between China and surrounding countries,” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a press briefing.
Luo Zhaohui, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also said the takeover has highlighted the progress made by both sides and will be conducive to building mutually beneficial cooperation.
“Chinese enterprises have contracted many other similar projects, such as the Karakoram Highway,” Luo added. Enditem
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said last month that a Chinese company’s takeover of the management of the Gwadar Port in Pakistan is part of the two countries’ cooperative efforts.
Hong said the transfer of the managing rights is a business project that falls under trade and economic cooperation conducted between China and Pakistan.
According to reports, the two sides officially signed an agreement on transferring the management rights of the Gwadar Port to a Chinese company at a ceremony held in the presidential residence in Islamabad on Monday.
When asked to comment on the strategic significance of the deal, Hong said boosting China-Pakistan cooperation is not only in the interests of both countries, but also conducive to maintaining regional stability and development.
“Chinese companies have long been actively cooperating with Pakistan in multiple areas,” Hong said.
Operating the Gwadar Port, a deep-water port located in southwest Pakistan and in the Arabian Sea, is regarded by international observers as a strategic move for China to attain energy security and expand sea channels.
PURELY ECONOMIC
Chinese investment in the Gwadar port is purely economic,” said Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of a leading Chinese daily, the Global Times, here on Wednesday, says a press release.
He was speaking at a roundtable organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) on Pak-China relations with the editorial staff of Global Times. He added that China will make all the necessary investments in the port to make it fully operational to support Chinese trade with West Asia, especially the trade between western part of China and that part of the world.
Hu said that China considers Pakistan an important friendly neighbouring country and that Chinese investors want to invest in projects in Pakistan. He added, however, that some Chinese investors are apprehensive about the security situation in Pakistan. He said that China will keep supporting the reconstruction of Afghanistan post-2014. He added that China does not want to undertake projects in any country that are opposed by the host communities.
Responding to a question about the imbalance in trade of China with Pakistan, Hu said that China is a free market economy where the government cannot dictate to the companies to import products from other countries if they are not market competitive.
IRS President Ashraf Azim pointed out that Indian concerns about the use of Gwadar port as a naval base were completely baseless. He termed the transfer of the port operations to China Overseas Port Holdings Limited a great achievement of the current government. He emphasised the need for business and cultural links between Pakistan and China alongside cordial government-to-government relations.
Other participants of the roundtable discussion included: Liu Yang, Senior Editor at the Global Times; Hu Jia, Editor at the Global Times; Li Ying, Editor at the Global Times English Edition; and researchers from IRS.
Source: Xinhua, Pakistan News International
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