China is now celebrating the 70th anniversary of its ‘atrocities’ in Tibet, where it forcibly entered, massacred thousands of protesters and forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India along with his followers as refugees. Over the past seventy years, China has tightened its control over Tibet by running a ruthless administration and keeping the region behind the 'iron curtain'. The world’s conscience remains unconcerned about Tibet’s plight, as nations are more concerned about the trade and economic benefits they derive from China and not about its human rights violations and aggression in Tibet.

While China conquered Tibet by force, it is now adopting an alternate strategy to gain control over Pakistan. And apparently, China has already succeeded in bringing Pakistan largely under its control.

Under the guise of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) scheme, which is a collection of infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013, and by deploying technology and providing loans, Beijing has gained nearly total dominance over Pakistan now, making it impossible for Islamabad to rid itself of China’s control in the foreseeable future.

As part of the CPEC scheme, China is involved in implementing several projects in Pakistan and has extended huge loans, which Islamabad will never be able to repay. China has now gained total operational control over the critical Gwadar Port in Pakistan, which is situated on the shores of the Arabian Sea in the city of Gwadar located in Balochistan province. 

The port is 533 km away from Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, and is approximately 120 km from the Iranian border. This is a very critical and strategic project for China and it will never give up its control over Gwadar port at any time.

While murmurs of protest are heard in Pakistan against China’s increasing influence, it may be said with some certainty that if such protests become massive in the coming years, China will not hesitate to use force to get complete military control over the country in the name of defending its economic interest, just as it has done in Tibet.

Control over Sri Lanka

What is particularly shocking is that while China’s military control over Tibet and economic dominance over Pakistan - part of Beijing’s territorial expansion strategies - are clearly evident, the Sri Lankan government seems to have learned nothing from the Communist nation’s actions in these places.

The Sri Lankan Parliament has passed the Colombo Port City Commission Bill, which officially declares 269 hectares of land reclaimed from the Indian Ocean and annexed to the city of Colombo as the country's first special economic zone (SEZ) for service-oriented industries.

The CHEC Port City Colombo (CPCC) is a joint venture between the Sri Lankan government and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the latter a subsidiary of the industrial behemoth China Communications Construction Company Limited.  The company has come up with an initial investment of USD 1.4 billion for land reclamation and the construction of infrastructure adjacent to the port of Colombo. The expected overall investment is USD 15 billion when completed,

In return, the Chinese company obtained the right to use 116 hectares of marketable land on a 99-year lease from the Sri Lankan government, according to the project’s website.

Sri Lanka has already lost the Hambantota port by handing it to the China Merchant Port company on a 99-year lease with a 70 percent stake. Though there is a clause that China will not use Hambantota port for military purposes, the Sri Lankan government can do nothing if China does so.

With the land area of the island nation not being very large and the two critical projects now under China’s control, there is no doubt that Colombo has allowed Beijing to have a significantly strong foothold. With a few more projects in the country now being executed by China, the question remains as to whether the Chinese dragon will give up its control over Sri Lanka at any time in the future.

Knowing the ground reality that China has definite expansionist greed and is a highly self-centered and dictatorial government,  Sri Lanka should have been extremely cautious in its dealings with China.  

Sri Lanka already has taken a huge loan from China and it is not in a position to repay it in the foreseeable future. In such circumstances, Sri Lanka has unwittingly driven itself to a scenario, where it is at China’s mercy.

While many discerning observers all over the world clearly understand the expansionist motives of the Chinese government, it is surprising that the rulers in Pakistan and Sri Lanka do not see the writing on the wall.

Future historians will view the control that China has gained over Pakistan and Sri Lanka as historical mistakes of the rulers of these two countries.

While the world will view Tibet with sympathy as a victim of aggression, it will hold the rulers of Pakistan and Sri Lanka responsible for reducing the country to the level of willing tools in China’s hands.

 
(The writer is a Trustee, NGO Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Chennai. The views are personal)