ISLAMABAD – Dismissing US’s claims that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) would only increase debt burden on Pakistan, China has said that USPrincipal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central AsiaAlice Wells’s statements are nothing new and are merely repetition of oldslanders against China.
Addressing a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson GengShuang said that both China and Pakistan have refuted and clarified such‘smears’ again and again. However, he added that some in the US still usethe same old script and will not stop though the show has become a ‘acomplete disaster’.
The spokesperson further said that China puts Pakistan’s interests firstand is committed to cooperation for shared benefits. He continued thatCPEC’s increasingly important role in boosting Pakistan’s socioeconomicdevelopment can be seen in the tens of thousands of jobs for Pakistanis aswell as progress made in at least 22 projects.
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“Whether the CPEC works and whether China-Pakistan cooperation is good ornot, the answer is presented to you in facts and data,” Shuang added. Whiletalking about US’s accusations that CPEC would only increase Pakistan’sdebt, he said that half of Pakistan’s foreign debt is from multilateralfinancial institutions.
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“According to statistics released by the Pakistani side, debt incurred fromthe CPEC stands at 4.9 billion US dollars, less than one tenth ofPakistan’s total debt. I’m afraid certain individuals in the US are not badat math, but rather misguided by evil calculations,” the Chinesespokesperson said.
Shuang also said that if Washington wanted to cooperate with Islamabadthen it should take concrete measures and honour its commitments instead ofalways ‘paying lip service and being the spoiler’.
“Finally, whatever the US says or does to sabotage our cooperation, Chinawill work with Pakistan for steady progress in the CPEC and in ourall-weather strategic cooperative partnership to bring more benefits to thePakistani people, to the region and beyond,” the Chinese spokespersonconcluded.
