ISLAMABAD – The Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in PakistanLijian Zhao has rubbished western propaganda against Chinese debt trap toPakistan.

He on Thursday rubbished criticism of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) published in the New York Timeslinkandsaid it was western countries which pushed Pakistan in a debt trap.

Zhao took issue with the article’s argument that China is ensnaringPakistan in a debt trap and said CPEC loans constituted only $6 billion ofPakistan’s $95 billion international debt. He also refuted the statedfigure of $23 billion owed to China.

In response to a section of the article that says China’s investment inPakistan comes with “military strings attached”, Zhao said the correct wayto phrase the cooperation between the neighbouring countries would be“defence cooperation and technology transfers”.

“Strings are something like Washington Consensus that your master alwayspulls. BTW, Chinese defence cooperation with Pakistan is not new and hasbeen there since the 1950s” said the Chinese envoy.