China & Pakistan: Diplomatic Relations & Mutual Gains - Essay Sample

Introduction

A relationship can be referred to as the state of being in an association with someone or something tied down by a mutual agreement. The world is moving so fast, and every country is working hard towards securing diplomatic relations with other countries for their gains, and China and Pakistan are not an exception to this course (Jacob, 2010). China is a fast-growing country with a fast-expanding economy and has, in the recent past, shown an interest in investing in other nations (Jacob, 2010). China has the interest to take over as a superpower nation from America, which currently dominates in this quarter (Shirk, 2007). China and Pakistan are known as close allies since 1949 after China lost its power over the mainland, which later saw it establish diplomatic relations with Pakistan in 1951 to date (Jacob, 2010).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Although China has other close allies like Korea, Russia, Japan, and other countries, her relation with Pakistan is one without a doubt (Bhattacharjee, 2015). However, we cannot fully say that China and Pakistan share any similar policy ideologies, the two nations relations has simply been a mutual one because they share a common enemy India. This is the reason the two neighboring countries continue to work together. However, every good relationship has two sides to it, and both parties must be mutually benefiting from it for it to be sustained longer like China, and Pakistan's relations have been (Bhattacharjee, 2015). Thus, this paper seeks to look at the relationship that exists between China and Pakistan, and if it is good in terms of mutual economic and military benefits for both countries.

Moreover, there is an aspect of the economic and military relationship between Pakistan and China. There is a strong symbiotic (mutual) relationship between the two nations as the Pakistani governments depend entirely on the acquisition of arms and another military regalia from the Chinese government. As a result, there is a promotion of economic ties between the two nations as Pakistan buys the armaments form its partner (Bhattacharjee, 2015). Through this kind of relationship, both countries benefit from one another.

Research Question

Are the China and Pakistan military and economic relationship mutually beneficial?

No. the relationship between China and Pakistan is not a good one simply because China is well known to take advantage of weaker economies at their gain by offering high-interest loans to debt trap such nations in the future. Yes, the relationship between China and Pakistan is good because, through China's investments, jobs have been created in Pakistan, the economy has grown, and the infrastructure has improved.

The relationship between China and Pakistan does not seem to be a mutual distributed because one country will eventually suffer the cost and also carry the burden of the loans once Pakistan is unable to service the loans they get from China just like China has done to other countries they have loaned money to. Also, China and Pakistan do not share any mutual policies; thus, their relationship can be termed as a one with hidden agendas.

Literature Review

The relationship between China and Pakistan is one-sided mostly favoring China

According to Ranjan (2015), China takes advantage of its huge financial capability to manipulate many countries around the world, which have seen them invest heavily in other countries in terms of high tech companies, road construction, and the supply of military equipment among other things. Pakistan is a victim of this game plan, where china has on several times, extended its warm hand to help Pakistan with its military needs (Ranjan, 2015). This is just a clear indication that China has a hidden interest in the economy of Pakistan. China is strongly taking advantage of becoming a superpower by investing heavily in countries that show interest (Ranjan, 2015). For instance, aside from the small projects, China has initiated in Pakistan, it has commissioned a megaproject known as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which will see china pump in billions of dollars in a bid to boost trade in Pakistan (Bhattacharjee, 2015). This project will indirectly benefit China as the donor as much as it is meant to scale up the economy of Pakistan internationally (Ranjan, 2015). Also, since Pakistan is a young economy is incapable of funding for such huge projects hence turning to china for funding through loan agreements, which see china take over management of this project until their debts have fully been recovered (Bhattacharjee, 2015).

According to Curtis & Scissors (2012), China uses very enticing ways to reschedule loan debts for the countries that owe them in the guise of helping them strategize, but in the long run, those who owe them money end up paying for more than what was negotiated in the contracts.

Notably, the research method used to give evidence to the NO answer as to why the relationship between China Based and Pakistan is unequal, is Qualitative (Bhattacharjee, 2015). The studies by various scholars seek to provide more details as to why they agree with the fact that China has other vested interests in Pakistan just like it has done to other countries like Sri Lanka in the past (Curtis & Scissors, 2012). This is evidence enough to conclude that their relationship is not mutual. It is because unlike Pakistan, China gets access to financial resources that offer Pakistan surplus as a loan hence incapacitating her and making her fall in a debt trap. Due to the inability of Pakistan to pay back the loans, China tends to control most of its economic growth operations. This move hence makes the relationship between the two nations un-materialistic.

With all these in mind, the relationship between China and Pakistan does not seem to be a good one since one country will eventually suffer the cost and also carry the burden of the loans once Pakistan is unable to service the loans they get from China just like China has done to other countries they have loaned money to (Curtis & Scissors, 2012). Also, China and Pakistan do not share any mutual policies; thus, their relationship can be termed as a one with hidden agendas (Ranjan, 2015). The goal of this literature review is to justify the reason why the relationship between China and Pakistan does not seem to be a good one in consideration of the works of other authors.

On the other hand, the two countries have mutual benefits from their existing relationships through military resource sales. Pakistan depends entirely on Chinese military technology and the purchase of arms for Pakistani forces is done in China (Hussain, 2017). Through this aspect of the relationship, there is an invoked mutual relationship in which Pakistan gets military arms from China and China gaining financial resources as a reward from Pakistan hence making the two countries depend on each other.

According to Hussain (2017), Pakistan is benefiting greatly from investments made by China in terms of world-class infrastructures of its kind, which will, in return, attract foreign investors to do business in Pakistan. Pakistan stands to benefit from a stable economy that can compete with other second class countries in the world (Khetran & Saeed, 2017). Aside from just infrastructures, Pakistan stands to benefit from the China relations because it will have the capability to create many jobs for its citizens once the China Pakistan Economic Corridor opens up (Bhattacharjee, 2015). Notably, China has initiated in Pakistan, and it has commissioned a megaproject known as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which will see china pump in billions of dollars in a bid to boost trade in Pakistan (Khetran & Saeed, 2017).

According to Curtis and Scissors (2012), the primary concern of the two countries relations has been whether Pakistan is in a good position to sustain such a major project commission by China in their country (Curtis & Scissors, 2012). Of interest is that China is moving so fast to secure the future of their companies in this country. Such a move has also seen key government officials from both countries pay bilateral visits to each other. Several high-level meetings between the two countries have been recorded in a bid to cement their bilateral relations further (Curtis & Scissors, 2012). The key notable ones being the recent visits of the Pakistan president to china with his foreign affairs and planning ministers at the cordial invitation of the Chinese president H.E Xi Jinping.

Definition of Key Terms

Financial can be referred to as the activities related to banking, credit facilities, and other money-related abilities of a person (Rea et al., 2019). it is mostly in describing the monetary value of an item or financial value.

High-tech can also be referred to as high technology employed by many entities or firms due to its efficiency and reduction of production costs. High technology is highly embraced due to the high quality of product output (Lee, 2017).

The commission can also be referred to as the process of starting a project in a place or launch something (Heslop, 2019). It can also mean the amount of money or financial aspect that one is given upon meeting the target value of a given item on sale.

Funding is the process of providing someone with money to carry out an activity or a project (Broome et al., 2018). It enables the facilitation of the project at hand due to the availability of sponsored facilities that aid a certain process of interest.

Analysis

This paper has utilized the qualitative approach to analyze the secondary data backing up the findings on the china -Pakistan relationship. Every country in the world is grappling with strengthening diplomatic relations with other countries. China and Pakistan are not an exception to this move, which has seen the two countries operate with close ties (Khetran & Saeed, 2017). Their relation has seen China and Pakistan invest in each other countries with the hope of strengthening their relations. Although China has also been investing in other countries, their close interest in Pakistan is what has the world worried (Khetran & Saeed, 2017). Pakistan continues to sink into financial debts owed from the huge projects China is building various projects in this particular country (Jacob, 2010). It is important to note that China, over the years, has been Pakistan's largest business Allie and their bilateral relations have continued to grow significantly. The commissioning of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has opened greater opportunities for Pakistan (Hussain, 2017).

Across the world, trade remains the greatest pillar of economies, and so countries are left with no option rather than work out what is best for them (Hussain, 2017). A mature economy is one where the transfer of goods and services can freely be done either by sea, air, or via road. This is the main reason China is investing in the business corridor that will see them unlock business opportunities in Pakistan by being able to move goods in and out of this country popularly referred to us the "one belt one road" (Haneef et al., 2012). Moreover, it is important to note that this project enjoys the backing of the two countries, together with its citizens, who continue to praise.

Just like any other project, there are so many glaring dangers Pakistan is opening itself to by accepting such huge projects to be commissioned in their country (Curtis & Scissors, 2012). For instance, Pakistan is likely to suffer from being highly dependent on China for any other future projects. This owed to the fact that Pakistan's economy might n...