*ISLAMABAD – **If Pakistan is in economic need, China will never ask it torepay the CPEC loans immediately, Chinese Ambassador has revealed referringback to the US diplomat statement.*
*Where was the United States when Pakistan needed help, asked ChineseAmbassador to Pakistan Yao Jing. *
He rejected a statement by US Acting Assistant Secretary for South andCentral Asian Affairs Alice Wells and said Pak-China relations are based on“win-win cooperation” and are mutually beneficial.
He was speaking at the the 5th CPEC Media Forum in Islamabad. Wells, duringan address at the Wilson Centre on China’s Belt and Road Initiative onThursday, said CPEC was not an aid to Pakistan but rather a form offinancing that ensured guaranteed profits for state-owned Chineseenterprises.
She said the multi-billion dollar project will take a toll on Pakistan’seconomy at the time of repayment of the debt and dividend.
Wells said that the lack of transparency in CPEC could foster corruptionand increase the project cost, thereby resulting in an even heavier debtburden for Pakistan.
“Because it is clear or needs to be clear that CPEC is not about aid, thisis almost always the form of loans or other forms of financing, oftennon-concessional with sovereign guarantees or guaranteed profits forChinese State-owned enterprises that are repatriated to China,” Wells said.
“Now, together with non-CPEC Chinese debt payment, China is going to take agrowing toll on Pakistan’s economy, especially when the bulk of paymentstarts to come due in the next four to six years.
Even if loan payments are deferred they are going to hang over Pakistan’seconomic development potential, hamstringing Prime Minister Khan’s reformagenda. The lack of transparency can increase CPEC cost and fostercorruption, resulting in an even heavier debt burden for Pakistan,” sheadded.
For his part, Yao expressed astonishment over Wells’ statement of highertariff at power plants established under CPEC. In 2013, when Chinesecompanies were establishing power plants in Pakistan, where was the US, heasked.
Why did it not invest in Pakistan’s power sector despite knowing thatPakistan was in dire need of electricity, demanded Yao.
He said China has always come forward to assist Pakistan in need withoutany political or government differences.
If Pakistan is in need, China would never ask it to repay its loans ontime, while on the International Monetary Fund, which is mainly governed bythe West, is strict in its repayment system, he claimed.