Author: Stuart White

Xi’s intellectual warriors are outgunning “realists” of Deng Xiaoping era
9Sep By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion, Politics

Xi’s intellectual warriors are outgunning “realists” of Deng Xiaoping era

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's legion of intellectual warriors are on a high, trying to fish out from the mainstream "realists" – people who have followed former leader Deng Xiaoping's pragmatism to spur Beijing's rise. The "China Dream" project, of railing the "civilisation state" on a path, which would lead to the recovery of China's glorious past is apparently at the heart of Xi's aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy.It is the idea of the "Middle Kingdom," where China and its people are at the centre of a global system, of which a number of semi-independent "tributary states" are the moving parts, which appears to fire Xi's worldview."The fact that the Chinese regard themselves as superior to the rest of the human race, and that this belief has a racial component, will confront the rest of th
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What’s blocking China’s highway to global dominance?
31Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

What’s blocking China’s highway to global dominance?

China is synonymous with authoritarianism, overpopulation, manufacturing, expansionism, and patent infringement. However, the most recent addition, besides concentration camps for Uighurs is the Belt Road Initiative (BRI).The BRI was announced by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, as an Economic and Maritime Silk Road. This multi-faceted project assimilates infrastructure connectivity, investment and trade cooperation, financial integration, cultural exchange, and regional cooperation between Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. The projected cost of the BRI could reach a gargantuan $1.2–1.3trillion by 2027 as predicted by Morgan Stanley, making BRI the most expensive and expansive International infrastructure project ever taken.The antecedents of the modern-day BRI could be tra
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What made ‘Pakistan’s Independence Day’ the most controversial day for its people
31Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Business, Opinion

What made ‘Pakistan’s Independence Day’ the most controversial day for its people

Certain nationalist groups in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan have announced that they will not celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14. Instead, they will be observing a Black Day.Since righteous voices are usually met with brutal repression and it is too risky to have such observance in Pakistan, it has been decided that the discontent be demonstrated through a series of car rallies across Europe, America and Canada highlighting forced disappearance, extrajudicial killings and ongoing persecution and manhunt of nationalists and political as well as human right activists in Pakistan.The decision to mark August 14 as a Black Day comes as a shock to many as it is in stark contrast to the perceived mindset of people who had previously claimed to be bound toget
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Pakistan’s ideological insecurity
30Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Pakistan’s ideological insecurity

Pakistan is suffering from ideological insecurities, and the developments over the past few weeks are proof enough. It all began when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan stated in the National Assembly that Osama bin Laden was a martyr. Later, a ruling party legislator accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Khawaja Asif of blasphemy for asserting that all religions were equal.Then, the minority Hindu, Sikh and Ahmadi communities were targeted. In July, the construction of the first Hindu temple in Islamabad, possibly the first temple in Pakistan since 1947, had to be halted when several clerics and even politicians objected to its construction with Muslim taxes in an ‘Islamic Republic’.An elderly Ahmadi man, Tahir Ahmed Naseem, was shot during the hearing of a blasphemy case aga
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Why India revoked Kashmir’s special status one-year ago
28Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Why India revoked Kashmir’s special status one-year ago

A year ago, on August 5, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution which protected Kashmir’s special status and in order to dissuade protests, Indian security forces imposed a curfew on Kashmir.Both Pakistan and many human rights groups reacted with outrage. Electronic billboards in Islamabad ticked off the days, hours, and minutes since India had imposed a curfew, never mind the hypocrisy of Pakistan as it did the same to Gilgit-Baltistan. Meanwhile, human rights groups’ consistent refusal to recognize that an end to terrorism is a precursor to rights improvement blunted their moral authority.Prior to India’s decision to change Kashmir’s status, Pakistan-based terrorists regularly crossed into Kashmir and India, more broadly, to attack both security a
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## Pitiful state of Pakistan ##
26Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Business, Opinion, Politics

## Pitiful state of Pakistan ##

In July 2018, Pakistan was accused by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of not doing enough to counter terrorism and subsequently was put on FATF’s grey list. It is only after FATF’s approval that millions of dollars in grants and aid are given to countries combating terrorism.The next session of FATF, which has seen delays due to COVID 19 pandemic, is due again shortly. Pakistan’s recent admission and subsequent denial of designated global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, who is accused by India of the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb attacks that claimed the lives of more than 250 and wounded 900 innocent civilians, is testimony to the pitiful state Pakistan has got herself into. Not only that, this demonstrates Prime minister Imran Khan’s desperation for seeking financial aid (admitting that Dawoo
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India successfully gains allies while confronting China
26Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

India successfully gains allies while confronting China

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak”. This is exactly what China seems to have put in action now. China's weakness was highlighted when it failed to effectively handle the outbreak of coronavirus in its initial stages and was caught on the back foot with the U.S., Australia and other countries blaming it and seeking an investigation.So, rather than adopting a remorseful demeanor, China portrayed itself as "strong" by displaying an aggressive attitude. Not only did the Chinese diplomats turn into "wolf warriors," but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime also came down harsh on Hong Kong, displayed belligerence in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea and East China Sea, and engaged in land border clashes with India.But this time, China seems to have gone too far
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Pakistan’s ‘Durand Line’ is perhaps bloodier than LoC
24Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Pakistan’s ‘Durand Line’ is perhaps bloodier than LoC

The clashes between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani troops along the Durand line - the international land border between Afghanistan and Pakistan – is now every day news.Between July and August, the Afghan Taliban have claimed that they have killed many Islamabad soldiers. The citizens of Khyber Pakhtoonqkhwa are, once again, sounding the alarm and the good old strategy of chaos so dear to Pakistan army and intelligence is becoming more and more complex and elaborate.According to locals, Islamabad is playing on the usual different tables, sponsoring both Taliban and ISIS -Khorasan. According to US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad these two organizations are each other’s’ “mortal enemies, and in the war against ISIS, Taliban have played an important role”. For more than a year the Taliban are re
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China-Pakistan Economic Corridor faces new threats from militancy
23Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor faces new threats from militancy

Ever since its launch in 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been facing a lot of cynical scrutiny, with the United States cautioning that CPEC projects are neither transparent nor cost-efficient, and warning Islamabad that it is subjecting itself to expensive loans under China’s Belt and Road Initiative – through which Beijing has pledged more than US$60 billion so far.However, supporters of the project, including the Pakistani government, say that Islamabad will not end up being a client state of Beijing’s, and that the CPEC is its best shot at economic development.Indeed, the CPEC has not progressed as planned, with several large projects shelved and others still uncompleted. The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to slow things down further, even though Pakistan has approved
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China asks Maldives to repay loan, an eye-opener for all debtor-nations?
21Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

China asks Maldives to repay loan, an eye-opener for all debtor-nations?

Even as the Government of President Ibrahim Solih is battling Covid-19 pandemic, facing heat from the opposition for the government’s India front, and deciphering when to reopen its tourism sector, other issues are beginning to dog the nation. Now, the Solih leadership should also be concerned about the short, medium and long-term fallouts of China asking the Maldivian state to repay at least an instalment of a massive loan granted to a local resort-owner.China’s Exim Bank has asked the Maldivian government to pay up $10 million (MVR 154 million), possibly an unpaid instalment from the total $127 million loan to former Yameen ally and parliamentarian, ‘Sun’ Ahmed Shyam against ‘sovereign guarantee.’Generally, ‘sovereign guarantee’ is extended only to government sector loans, and the guaran
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