China has proposed to establish military bases abroadIn a recent article, renowned Pakistani journalist Amir Mir made startling disclosures that China is seeking to establish military bases in the Pakistani border region along Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are deployed. These Chinese military bases could be established in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) or in Gilgit Baltistan, a region that borders China and has traditionally been considered as part of Jammu & Kashmir.
Amir Mir, who is an author of several books on militancy in Pakistan, also noted that the Chinese first want to establish these military bases, giving a lower priority to the Pakistani request to take over the strategically important Gwadar port. The Gwadar port on the Baluchistan coast seeks to undermine Indian naval dominance in the region. In his article, Amir Mir also revealed that Chinese troops also took part in a Pakistani military exercise which was held along the Indian border in August.
These revelations are likely to heighten the tension between India and Pakistan, as several Indian military leaders have warned in the recent past that Pakistan and China pose a joint threat to the security of India. Indian Army chief V.K. Singh has said that around 4,000 Chinese, including soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), are present in Pakistani Kashmir.
Following are excerpts from the report:[1] "Pakistan Wants China to Build a Naval Base at… Gwadar in Baluchistan; Beijing is More Interested in Setting Up Military Bases Either in FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] or the Northern Areas [Gilgit Baltistan]"
"While Pakistan wants China to build a naval base at its southwestern seaport of Gwadar in Baluchistan, Beijing is more interested in setting up military bases either in FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] or the Northern Areas [Gilgit Baltistan], which are closer to the troubled Chinese province of Xinjiang.
"According to well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, the Chinese desire is meant to contain the growing terrorist activities of the Chinese rebels belonging to the Al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). The Chinese Muslim rebels want the creation of an independent Islamic state and are allegedly being trained in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
"Beijing's wish for a military presence in Pakistan was discussed at length by the political and military leadership of both the countries in recent months, as China has become ever more concerned about the Pakistani tribal areas as a haven for radicals.
"Beijing believes that similar to the American military presence in Pakistan, a Chinese presence would enable its military to effectively counter the Muslim separatists who have been operating from the tribal areas of Pakistan for almost a decade and carrying out cross-border terrorist activities in the trouble-stricken Xinjiang Province.
"There were three high-profile visits from Pakistan to China in recent months: the first by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar; then by President Asif Zardari, followed by DG ISI [Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence] Lt.-Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
"The Pakistani visits were reciprocated by the September 28, 2011 visits to Islamabad by the Chinese Vice Premier Meng Jianzhu and the Chinese Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu. These visits were actually prompted by the two bomb blasts in the Kashgar city of the Xinjiang province on July 30 and 31, 2011…. The explosions provoked some senior government officials in Xinjiang to publicly claim for the first time in recent years that the attackers had been trained in explosives in the ETIM camps which are being run by the Chinese Muslim separatists in the Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan."
Pakistani Defense Minister: China is "More Than Happy to Oblige [Pakistan], Including Agreeing to Take Over Operation of the Strategically Positioned… Port of Gwadar"
"Beijing believes that the Chinese rebels operating from the Pakistani tribal areas are well connected to Al-Qaeda, which not only trains them but also provides funding. Therefore, Pakistan and China, which have been cooperating for a long time in the field of counter terrorism, have intensified their efforts to nip the evil of terrorism in the bud, especially after the Kashgar blasts.
"In fact, it was in the aftermath of the May 2 U.S. raid [which had killed Osama bin Laden in his Abbottabad hideout] that Islamabad started playing its China card aggressively, perhaps to caution Washington against pushing it too hard. Shortly after the raid, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani traveled to Beijing.
"The accompanying Defense Minister, Ahmed Mukhtar, had stated on May 21, 2011 that whatever requests for assistance the Pakistani side made, the Chinese government was more than happy to oblige, including agreeing to take over operation of the strategically positioned but underused port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea upon expiry of a contract with a Singaporean government company.
"He disclosed that Pakistan had asked China to begin building a naval base at Gwadar, where Beijing funded and built the port. 'We would be grateful to the Chinese government if a naval base is constructed at the site of Gwadar for Pakistan,' he said in a statement."
