By Divya Soti

May 9, 2015

'On April 20, 2015 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan, both countries signed an agreement to commence work on the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which apart from providing huge upgrades to Pakistan’s energy sector will allow China to trade with the Middle East which includes routing its oil imports through CPEC by offloading them at Gwadar port and transporting them to China via land route through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), enabling it to bypass the Strait of Malacca through which 60% of Chinese oil imports pass currently. The importance attached by China to CPEC can be gauged from the fact that Chinese investment in the project amounts to one-third of its official annual military budget.

China is investing in CPEC to avoid the import route through the Strait of Malacca which is supposedly vulnerable to naval blockade by the US or India. Over the last few years, China has adopted an aggressive strategy in South China Sea. China has continued to build artificial land masses in the South China and West Philippine Seas, despite objections from the international community. China is claiming almost the whole South China Sea for itself which has not just worried countries like Japan, Vietnam and Philippines but also the US. Recently, Popular Science Magazine revealed the Chinese plans to build floating islands in South China Sea to support both “civilian and military mission, including supply, landing aircraft and basing of amphibious vehicles”.'

Read more:

http://www.eurasiareview.com/09052015-china-pakistan-economic-corridor-challenges-for-india-and-us-analysis/

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