China's "daydream of imperialism" receives a jolt in its backyard

Singapore, December 30 : The security situation as regards Chinese projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan is wrecking Beijing's "daydream of imperialism," reported The Singapore Post.
China has treated Pakistan and Afghanistan as its backyard since the exit of the United States from the scene; however, the security of its investments in the region is in limbo.
A measure of the insecurity is that all Chinese nationals working in China Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan have been asked to move in bullet-proof vehicles when outdoors; while on December 13, following a coordinated attack the previous day by Islamic State Khorasan Province militants on a Chinese-owned hotel in the heart of Kabul, Beijing advised Chinese citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country "as soon as possible," reported The Singapore Post.
The decision on movement in bullet-proof vehicles was taken after Beijing expressed concern to Islamabad about the security of Chinese workers against terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
At the beginning of November 2022 when Prime Minister of Pakistan Shebaz Sharif travelled to Beijing to congratulate President of China Xi Jinping on his election to the post of President for a record third time, the latter gave him a mouthful on the incidents of attacks on Chinese workers in Pakistan, reported The Singapore Post.
Moreover, Beijing demanded more; asking Islamabad to let Chinese security personnel protect Chinese nationals. Islamabad has so far resisted the pressure as it will make it too glaring that Pakistan has turned into a colony of China.
Xi after assuming the third term again expressed concern to Sharif over the recurring attacks on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan by the Baloch Nationalist Army and other militant groups that opposed Chinese investments under China Pakistan Economic Corridor, reported The Singapore Post.
Among the two major attacks in Pakistan on Chinese nationals was the bomb attack on a bus belonging to a hydropower project in Dasu in 2021, killing nine Chinese engineers; and the killing of three Chinese teachers in the Confucius Institute in Karachi in April 2022. There have been a number of other smaller attacks and deaths of Chinese nationals.
People in Pakistan are unhappy over the CPEC projects as land has often been acquired forcibly and without adequate compensation and Chinese people have been employed in these projects, ignoring the claim of the locals.
Meanwhile, when NATO troops were present in Afghanistan, several Chinese companies negotiated major contracts in Afghanistan for the exploration and exploitation of its hydro-carbon deposits.
The Afghan people did not encourage these exploitative projects. Some local workers for the Chinese projects had been killed and kidnapped, rendering the projects non-starters, reported The Singapore Post.
There were conflicting reports about the number of deaths and injuries in the attack on the Kabul Longan Hotel on the afternoon of December 12. There was no information on the identities of the injured Chinese guests or what they were doing in Afghanistan.
The ISKP has left no one in doubt about the reason for the attack. The hotel was attacked because it was frequented by diplomats and owned by "communist China," the ISKP statement said.
Following the Kabul attack, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of China Wang Wenbin said China was "deeply shocked."
The Kabul attack has rattled Beijing which has economic and mining interests in Afghanistan. Chinese firms, with strong government backing, have sought to pursue opportunities to exploit the vast, undeveloped resource deposits of Afghanistan, especially the Mes Aynak copper mine which is believed to hold the largest copper deposit in the world. China also wants to extend its exploitative Belt and Road Initiative in Afghanistan, reported The Singapore Post.
However, after the Kabul attack, Beijing is demanding the Taliban government in Afghanistan to hand over to China the Uyghur militants who are sheltered in Afghanistan.
Members of the Turkestan Islamic Party want to separate the region of Xinjiang from China and free the oppressed Uyghur people from the grasp of China.
Beijing is putting pressure on the Taliban to clamp down on the TIP militants. This has provided an opportunity for the ISKP to attract TIP militants to join their forces and strengthen the anti-China movement in Afghanistan, reported The Singapore Post.
In September 2022, the ISKP published a critique of China, belittling the BRI and calling the communist leaders of China "red atheists whose hands are soaked with the blood of innocent Uyghur Muslims."
Their magazine, The Voice of Khorasan, called the Chinese "tyrants" with a "daydream of imperialism" and threatened that the BRI projects in Afghanistan could face losses because of a lack of a proper business environment, reported The Singapore Post.