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Prime Minister Imran Khan is preparing to visit Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics later this week. The visit is symbolic as it comes amid a diplomatic boycott by Western countries, particularly the United States, accusing China of human rights abuses.
There will be a gathering of leaders, at the opening ceremony scheduled for Feb 4, with either political or economic links to China. Russian President Putin was the first foreign to confirm his presence while UN chief is also expected to attend. PM Imran Khan is also heading to Beijing to express solidarity with the strategic partner amid mounting allegations by Western countries.
The visit is also expected to pace up progress on the CPEC and discuss advancing joint ventures. There has been criticism that the pace of CPEC projects has stalled even though the prime minister maintains it has moved to the next phase of relocating industries to Pakistan. The prime minister has called China a role model of development. He wants to use the Chinese experience to resolve problems such as urban development and agricultural productivity.
There are also reports that Pakistan has set its sights on $3 billion loan from China and investment in half a dozen projects. China has also placed $11 billion in commercial loans and support initiatives which led to record foreign exchange reserves. In the previous fiscal year, Pakistan paid over Rs26 billion in interest cost to China and is now eyeing more loans to prop up the dwindling foreign reserves.
The Beijing Winter Olympics have been highly politicized and the enthusiasm has been subdued by the pandemic. There will be no international spectators and only a small number of local fans. It was always a challenge for the Chinese to hold the event under the shadow of the pandemic despite the strict ‘zero-covid’ policy. China last hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008 but since then it has become the world’s second large economy and has a more muscular attitude to global affairs.
It needs to be seen if PM Imran Khan’s visit is a snub to Western states who have largely ignored him ever since he came to power. It is certain that the visit will strengthen the all-weather strategic relationship between both countries as Pakistan tilts to its eastern neighbour.
