Sino-Pakistan Relations during Covid-19: The Weakest Links

Asadullah
Department of International Relation, BZ University Multan , Pakistan
Email: zainkhan92@gmail.com

Dawood Karim1
Department of International Relation, Karakorum University Gilgit Baltistan , Pakistan
Email: dawoodkarim011@gmail.com

Sajid Mehmood
Department of International Relation, BZ University Multan, Pakistan

Nawazish Ali
Department of International Relation, BZ University Multan, Pakistan
Email: maliknawazishali173@gmail.com

Shamaila Amir
Fellow of Ph. D (Linguistics), Hamdard University, Karachi, Pakistan
Email: shaminhasan@hotmail.com

Abstract:
The Covid-19 is testing the world and also the friendship of Pakistan and China. As
international relations are also undergoing rapid changes due to this pandemic, China is trying to
build its reputation amongst countries by helping and selling equipment required to fight against
this pandemic. China’s relations with its friends are also taking new turns as the pandemic is
playing havoc with the economies of the strongest countries and also those who have the already
weak economy like Pakistan. The Covid-19 pandemic has put China –Pakistan “Sweeter than
honey and higher than the Himalayas" friendship into troubles due to a number of reasons which
include Pakistan being on the verge of economic collapse and the possibility of being the worst-
hit country in South Asia by Covid-19. In this situation, Pakistan is forced to depend more on
China, its all-weather friend but this time the friendship will have to pass the Covid test. The
paper analyses and tries to identify the weakest links in the China-Pakistan relations at the time
of the Covid-19 pandemic. It concludes that the stoppage of work on CPEC, provision of low-
quality medical equipment by China, and Pakistan’s deteriorating economy are the weakest links
in the Sino-Pak relations.
Keywords: Sino-Pakistan Relations, Covid-19, China-Pakistan, weakest links, etc.
Introduction:
The pandemic of Coronavirus which is taking the world to toll the world, with the people
adjusting to the new facts, changes, and realities, has not spared the international relations. The
relations between the countries are undergoing rapid changes including the relation between
Pakistan and China. In the times of pandemic, China is trying to utilize the opportunities which
1
Corresponding Author
were created by this pandemic.  It availed the opportunity of sales and donations of medical
equipment to the rest of the world and attempted to change the dominant narrative on Covid-19.
The virus is weakening the economic, political, and medical relations between Pakistan and
China and is playing havoc in Pakistan. It is opined that this pandemic may put China-Pakistan’s
“sweeter than honey and higher than the Himalayas” friendship in danger. Pakistan which is
already on the verge of economic collapse also faces the danger of emerging as South Asian
worst-hit country by the pandemic. This situation has increased Pakistan’s dependency on China
and this time China’s support to Pakistan would have to pass the test of Covid-19 which has
magnified the already “economic, social, and security challenges for Pakistan” (Ali, & Saeed,
2019; Solangi, 2019; Naz, 2019). This pandemic has also affected the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC forthwith) and has thus further challenged Sino-Pakistan relations.

Limitations of the Study:

The data for the paper has been taken only from open sources such as the internet. The
views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the policy
or position of the Government of Pakistan.

Background:
Since January 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic has taken the whole of the world to toll.
The pandemic has played havoc and brought disasters for the economies of the most developed
nations worldwide. The already weak economies like those of Pakistan are experiencing the
worst outcomes as the result of this pandemic. In Pakistan, this pandemic started on the 26 th of
February and since then there is an ever-increasing number of the patients. As of the 8 th of July,
Pakistan had 237,489 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, while the death cases have reached a
figure of 4,922 (Worldometer, 2020). Most of the cities and towns in Pakistan have been facing
lockdown in terms of markets, educational institutes and private and government offices,
partially or completely (Khan et al., 2020), paralyzing the economy and also suspending the
progress on the CPEC which alone is worth $ 50 billion (Pathak & Saraswat, 2020). This
situation in Pakistan is hurting Chinese interests as the CPEC is the flagship project of the
Chinese President’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI forthwith). For Pakistan, China is
strategically, very important. Their stakes are firmly tied firmly to the Chinese-funded domestic
infrastructure projects and their success. Similarly, China also needs reliable and loyal allies like
Pakistan which are willing to support and spread the emerging Chinese narrative on the
pandemic (Singh, 2020).

China’s Economic Loss after CPEC Stopped:

When the pandemic outbroke in China, Pakistan gradually closed down work on all the
projects of CPEC fearing that the Chinese persons on Spring Festival holidays, might transmit
the disease in Pakistan upon return from China. Later the work on CPEC was stopped, as the
Government of Pakistan the Chinese workers from returning to Pakistan, including the projects,
such as Lahore Orange Line Metro Train. Moreover, that Chinese personnel who had stayed in
Pakistan were stopped from working and put in quarantine. The Chinese diplomats also had to
restrict their activities, which started from the cancellation of all meetings from January 2020
onward by the Chinese Consulate-General in Lahore (Pathak & Saraswat, 2020). As time
progressed, Pakistan further restricted the movements of Chinese personnel in Pakistan.  Gwadar
Port Authority banned the entry of incoming Chinese personnel until the end of the pandemic
which stopped the development works of the port, despite being the center of the CPEC project.
The governments of both countries do not admit publicly that the CPEC projects have been
stopped and will remain incomplete until the return of the Chinese workers. The loan would have
to be repaid for this project but the work would not be complete. This economic shock would
have been less severe if the laborers, suppliers, and manufacturers were from Pakistan as the first
batch of Chinese workers which returned to Pakistan on March 20, 2020, had been quarantined
for 14 days (Pathak & Saraswat, 2020).
It is also pertinent to mention here that CPEC had always been a challenge for China
since its inception in April 2015. Pakistan’s internal politics has always made it controversial
(Solangi, 2019; Aftab et al., 2020). Moreover, this project had been aggressively criticized by
United States’ top diplomat for South Asia Alice Wells. Moreover, the CPEC, through the
Khunjrab Pass, connects Kashgar to Gwadar, both cities situated in the troubled provinces of
Xinjiang and Baluchistan respectively. The development of Gwadar is the backbone of this
project but it is always threatened by the militant groups present in Baluchistan. These groups
accuse authorities of exploiting the natural resources of Baluchistan. They have been attacking
the outsiders, the armed forces, and nationals from other provinces of Pakistan (Pathak &
Saraswat, 2020).
Even though the source of the pandemic is China, there were found no hard feelings in
Pakistan towards the Chinese presence in Pakistan. They were treated very well (Ashraf, 2020).
Despite this fact, the lives of the Chinese workers now specifically are under threat as the Covid-
19’s impact on China’s public image may be exploited by these terrorist groups. They may also
target China to take revenge from China for its policies about and treatment of Uighur Muslims
in Xinjiang (Pathak & Saraswat, 2020). Against this backdrop, the pandemic has proven to be a
huge crisis for the CPEC project and it seems to be very hard to recover this project even if
things come to a normal.
The joint official announcements made to the media reflected that both countries had
different priorities that were behind the visit (Ahmed et al., 2020). It was clear that for China, its
domestic stability and international reputation were important, and the top priorities as expressed
by the Chinese President in his speech on the 23 rd of February 2020. For domestic stability, it
was clear that the President has given “top priority to people’s life and health” and that “China
adopted the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures in little time to contain the
virus.” It was hoped that China “will win the People’s War against Covid-19.” Moreover, China
desired to be the leading country in its fight against the pandemic and enjoy a positive
international reputation in this regard. As a result, Pakistan and China signed a number of MoUs
related to the supply of humanitarian and emergency materials to fight and control the pandemic
(Boni, 2020).
As far as Pakistan is concerned, the pandemic time is utilized in reaffirming Pakistan’s
solidarity with China, possibly with an aim to win political, military and strategic objectives of
Pakistan on Kashmir and CPEC (Aurangzeb et al., 2020). The joint statement after various steps
taken to reaffirm this solidarity has reported that the two sides “exchanged views on the situation
in Jammu & Kashmir” and that “the Pakistan side briefed the Chinese side on the latest
developments, including its concerns, position, and current urgent issues” (Ahmed et al., 2020;
Aurangzeb et al., 2020). China, on its part, declared opposing “any unilateral actions that
complicate the situation.” Interestingly, the Indian and the Pakistani media highlighted this
contradiction, and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has to issue a reply “rejecting the
reference” to Kashmir. The Chinese media also later emphasized that China is committed and
determined to fight the pandemic (Boni, 2020).

Trade Problems between China and Pakistan:

It is not only the CPEC which contributes towards establishing the relations between the
two countries. China and Pakistan have strong trade relations also (Khan et al., 2019). The trade
volume between China and Pakistan stood at $16.35 billion during 2018-19 (Sigh, 2020) and
China is the biggest exporter of Pakistan, with a trading volume of $14.54 billion (Khan et al.,
2020). However, the lockdown situations and reduced and suspended economic activities have
also been affecting the trade between these countries for the last five months. This has resulted in
a reduction in trade volume between both countries by 25 percent so far. The reduction in trade
volume would increase between Pakistan and China if the trade activities are not soon (Pathak &
Saraswat, 2020). It is obvious that for the $ 14 trillion giant economy of China, this reduction
might not be a big deal but for Pakistan, it would cripple its economy which is already struggling
hard to survive. Pakistan with a weaker economy is against the strategic interests of China
because an economically strong Pakistan is essential for the success of China’s BRI. China also
wants Pakistan to counterbalance the economic rise of India in the region but Pakistan is even
finding it hard to pay for its imports due to a negative blow to its trading capacity. Therefore, the
geopolitical interests of South Asia with regards to Pakistan have severely been affected due to
the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19.

Pakistan’s Debts and Post Covid-19 Situation:

Pakistan’s health hazards and the economic hazards seem difficult to be dealt with by the
government because the economy is likely to bear a loss of 4.64 percent in GDP. The imports
and exports are disrupted because of the pandemic. According to an estimate of the Asian
Development Bank, a loss of $ 5 Billion may be suffered through as a result of this pandemic
(Ashraf, 2020). Pakistan imports a maximum of textile raw material in the form of dyes and
chemicals from China while 60 percent of its exports are textiles. The economy of Pakistan is
dollar strapped and the textile industry immensely contributes to fore the reserves. The economy
of Pakistan has lately found itself to be able to pay just for 1.5-2 months of imports and in this
situation, the unavailability and the shortage of laborers because of the pandemic are restricting
operational capabilities of Pakistan’s ports also, leading to a stocking of cargo there. The demand
for textiles has been reduced from the pandemic hit countries which is further troubling the
Pakistan economy (Khan et al., 2020).
According to the Ministry of Planning and Development, Pakistan would have to pay $
40 to China for the $ 26.5 billion CPEC investment in a period of 20 years other than the $ 8.2
billion Mainline-I projects of its railways. This project of Pakistan Railways according to the
ministry is the only project that can be possibly materialized in the next few years. Moreover, a $
9 Billion discrepancies have already surfaced between the figures quoted by Pakistan and China
in 2018 with respect to the cost of ongoing and completed projects. According to Pakistan, the
total cost for these 22 powers projects was 28.6 Billion dollars; while according to China, the
figures were $ 19 billion. In addition to this, Pakistan would end up pouring its economic
reserves into the Chinese economy as a result of its agreement on the CPEC energy project
cooperation because Pakistan would repay debts to China in dollars. It is also a blow to Pakistan
the top-level jobs have largely been occupied by Chinese although the project has created jobs
for the Pakistani workers (Khan et al., 2020; Pathak & Saraswat, 2020; Singh, 2020). In this
situation, the Covid-19 pandemic would only further exploit the economy of Pakistan.

China’s treatment of Pakistan and Pakistanis:

Covid-19 Pandemic has exposed many other weakest aspect of the mutual relationships
of Pakistan and China. Pakistan’s Foreign Office announced that 500 Pakistani students, stuck in
Wuhan, in a health emergency, when most of the countries evacuated their students, will not be
evacuated to show solidarity with China. This decision was severely criticized because the
Pakistani students used social media to voice their plight. This groundless decision of Pakistan
for ignoring the importance of the lives of its citizens eventually created an impact on China’s
domestic polity (Ashraf, 2020; Pathak & Saraswat, 2020).
Moreover, after claiming success in beating the pandemic domestically, China aimed to
deliver help to Pakistan. It transported aid and equipment through Khunjrab which included 2
tons of masks, test kits, ventilators, medical protective clothes worth Rs 67 million. It also helped
in setting up temporary hospitals due to the rising numbers of patients in Pakistan. More testing
kits and relevant equipment and Chinese specialists and health workers reached Pakistan by a
special cargo flight and another special plane carrying relief equipment funded by private
Chinese entities was also sent (Singh, 2020). Interestingly, Pakistan here was proved to be
inferior in friendship with China. When the first consignment landed, it was found that Chinese
masks were made out of underwear. The Sindh provincial government delivered the masks to
hospitals without verification which made the situation worse. This act of China very adversely
impacted its public perception within Pakistan and internationally. Poor treatment of a country
that is declared as an “all-weather friend” raises questions about the world order when China as a
supreme leader. This is an example of the relationships China would have economically and
politically with the countries that would be subjugated to China (Pathak & Saraswat, 2020).

Concluding Analysis:

On the basis of the previous analysis, the following may be concluded:

i. The pandemic has severely affected the economic interests of China in Pakistan.
ii. The pandemic has helped China with its image in Pakistan because it has been
considered as an iron brother by Pakistan. Likewise, Pakistan has also shown
solidarity to China during this time of trial.
iii. Pakistani citizens did not express negative feelings towards the Chinese present in
Pakistan despite that the source of the pandemic was China. Chinese personnel
present in Pakistan during the crisis were treated very well.
iv. Pakistan’s decision to not evacuating its students and President of Pakistan’s visit
to China to show solidarity was a diplomatic victory for China.
v. Pakistan is struggling to contain the outbreak due to a lack of resources and its
flawed and broken government systems. In this situation, China could assist
Pakistan and emerge out as an ever-trusted friend.
vi. China’s sincere efforts to help Pakistan would bring many other economic and
geopolitical interests for China in Pakistan even after the pandemic is over. For
example, those Pakistani citizens who are opposing the CPEC would support it,
and this would contribute to the smooth completing of the project.
 vii. China has successfully controlled the pandemic but Pakistan has just started its
fight against the Covid-19. There would only be more losses for China if Pakistan
is unable to control the pandemic effectively. The pandemic demands Sino-
Pakistan relations to involve the welfare of each other’s citizens otherwise if these
relations are not handled properly, the Covid-19 would further exploit the
already present weak links in the relations of these countries.

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