Pakistan has enacted strict security protocols for over 20,000 Chinese nationals working in the country due to repeated attacks targeting them. Twenty Chinese nationals have been killed and 34 injured across 14 attacks since 2021, according to Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority. But these security arrangements, which were a demand from Beijing, are backfiring.
Six Chinese investors filed the petition to the Sindh High Court in Karachi last Friday, alleging harassment and corruption by the police. These investors are mostly involved in setting up medium sized manufacturing plants and the importing of raw materials that they sell to Pakistani customers.
“Over the past six to seven months, the Sindh Police have engaged in repeated acts of harassment, including unjustifiably restricting the movements of Chinese nationals within Karachi and Sindh, particularly,” reads the petition, seen by Nikkei Asia.
“The [investors] and a lot of other Chinese citizens have been subjected to unjustified detainments within their residences, on the pretext of ‘security issues,’ without any clear legal grounds or specific incidents that warrant such actions,” it continued. “These measures not only limit the Petitioners’ basic freedoms but also interfere with their abilities to conduct business activities effectively.”
The investors say they faced bribe demands from the moment they arrived at Karachi’s airport. The petition further adds that previous attempts to resolve these grievances were ignored by authorities. They also warned that they might return to China if such harassment continues.
The petition pleads with the court to direct the local and federal governments to immediately cease any harassment, unjustified detainment and restrictions done in the name of security issues.
“If the Chinese, who by tradition keep issues away from the public eye, are going to the extent of not only making their long-held grievances public but also approaching provincial apex courts, it shows the intensity of the matter,” Ghulam Ali, deputy director at Hong Kong Research Center for Asian Studies, told Nikkei.
The Sindh government has responded by defending the security arrangements for Chinese nationals.
“Certain Chinese associated with projects unrelated to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor wanted free movement, but we cannot compromise their security, thus standard operating procedures are strictly followed,” Ghulam Nabi Memon, Sindh’s police chief, told local media.
On Tuesday evening, the Chinese investors decided to withdraw their petition after the top administration of Sindh and the federal government told them to address the concerns.
“Chinese have delivered a message through this petition that they can’t take more of such harassment in the name of security,” a government official linked to the matter told Nikkei on condition of anonymity.
Experts say this development will further contribute to reducing China’s economic footprint in Pakistan.
“There is no new major investment from China to Pakistan recently. Slowly, the ‘higher than the Himalayas’ relationship will descend to the ground,” said Ali of the Hong Kong Research Center. “However, given the long history of cooperation between the two countries, China will continue the rhetoric of a friendly relationship.”
source : asia.nikkei