The issue is something that is better than nothing.
China is not putting all eggs in one basket and instead is organising options to keep the resources required by her reaching her.
Pakistan is one of the options that surely assist the aim.
Oil is not the only issue that China finds as solely essential.
It is not merely oil pipelines that China has built in Myanmar and Pakistan. China is building multi access options - pipeline, railways and highways.
Last edited by Ray; 06-08-2014 at 06:27 PM.
Exactly, that is why Pakistan is not "central" to Chinese strategic interests. Not irrelevant, but not central either. I think the Chinese can see the inherent instability and unreliability of Pakistan clearly enough that they will not allow themselves to become strategically dependent on Pakistan in any way.Originally Posted by Ray
Very true. Some people focus exclusively on commodity imports as a strategic issue, while overlooking China's equally imperative need to maintain transit of its merchandise exports... which are entirely reliant on container shipping, and given geography are likely to remain so. Again, it's a question of scale, and some find it difficult to envision the number of trucks or railway cars it would take to move the cargo of a single container ship. The world's goods move by ship for good reasons.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
H.L. Mencken
Apart from Chinese strategic interest, to include contain India through the 'string or pearls; including a port in Ceylon, the Chinese ongoing interest and assistance is important to keep Pakistan in line with Chinese interest; more so, when the US is losing its preoccupation with Pakistan after quitting Afghanistan.
By keeping Pakistan afloat (its economy is in the pits), China will have a hold over Pakistan over the Uighurs making a serious damage to China's sovereignty, since a large majority of the Uighur Hajjis vanish into Pakistan to create havoc in Xinjiang.
Would the number of trucks and railway cars be an impediment to a country flush with funds and on the go?Very true. Some people focus exclusively on commodity imports as a strategic issue, while overlooking China's equally imperative need to maintain transit of its merchandise exports... which are entirely reliant on container shipping, and given geography are likely to remain so. Again, it's a question of scale, and some find it difficult to envision the number of trucks or railway cars it would take to move the cargo of a single container ship. The world's goods move by ship for good reasons.
That may be the intention, but it's likely to prove a complicated effort in reality. Pakistan has limited control over its own frontier areas, and the assumption that keeping Pakistan's economy afloat would yield concessions on control of unruly elements has not always worked out for other countries.
Absolutely. Again, geography is a harsh mistress. Take out a map, locate China's major industrial regions, locate it's major export markets. Like it or not, they are tied to the sea.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
H.L. Mencken
To integrate the Western China, which is industry deficient, China will have to address industrial growth there to pacify the lot there.
China looks at the long term benefits and not short term gains.
There's been very little industrial development in Western China, largely because there's so little access to markets. I see no sign that this is likely to change any time soon, though I've seen very hypothetical discussion of petrochemical plants using feedstock from the Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan pipelines as a possibility for generating economic development in the area.
We hear a great deal about China's long term planning, but I'm not sure the walk measures up to the talk. We'll see...
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
H.L. Mencken
THE DEVELOPMENT OF 23 INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IN WESTERN CHINA: SCALE AND PRODUCTIVITY
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/public...d-productivity
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