Tuesday, 12 April 2016

Gwadar port to be operational by 2017: Chinese official

A multi-million dollar port being developed by China in Pakistan is set to be at “full operation” by the end of the year, a Chinese official said Tuesday, part of Beijing’s ambitious economic plans in the region.

Gwadar port, on Pakistan’s southwest coast, will see roughly one million tonnes of cargo going through it by 2017, said Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the Chinese public company in charge of the development.

Current trade there is “basically nothing”, he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar about the port’s development Tuesday.

“We hope a big jump will take place… Our dream is to make Gwadar a regional trading centre,” he said.

Gwadar, in Balochistan province, forms what officials call the “heart” of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a grand $46 billion project giving Beijing greater access to the Middle East, Africa and Europe through Pakistan.

The port was built in 2007 with technical help from Beijing as well as Chinese financial assistance of about $248 million.

Zhang said the tonnage will initially comprise “quite a number” of construction materials for the city’s development, which Pakistani officials envision turning into another Dubai.

Exports will at first focus on the local fishing industry, he said, with a modern processing plant planned for the area, though he would not give a timeline for the plant.

“We shall try to process it here… So that the locals can benefit,” he told reporters after the seminar.

Desperately poor Balochistan has been roiled since 2004 by a separatist insurgency aimed at seeking greater control over the province’s resources.

Some Baloch nationalists have accused the Chinese of conspiring with the Pakistani elite to plunder the province while doing little to share profits and create jobs for local people

China expresses anger at G7 statement on East, South China Seas

China’s expressed anger on Tuesday after foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies said they strongly opposed provocation in the East and South China Seas, where China is locked in territorial disputes.

“We urge the G7 member states to honor their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The G7 should focus on global economic governance and cooperation against the backdrop of weak economic growth rather than hyping up disputes and provoking problems, it added.

On Monday, G7 foreign ministers said after meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that they opposed “any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions” in the East and South China Seas.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year.

China also has a separate dispute with Japan over a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea.

China has every right to build on the Spratly Islands and there are no problems with freedom of navigation and overflight for the East and South China Seas, the foreign ministry said.

China is committed to resolving disputes through talks with countries directly involved via international law and on the basis of respecting historical facts, to maintain peace and stability while safeguarding its sovereignty, it said.

It repeated that China will neither accept nor participate in any arbitration “illegally forced upon it”, a reference to a case lodged by the Philippines against China.

“We urge the G7 member states to fully respect the efforts made by countries in the region, stop making irresponsible remarks and all irresponsible actions, and truly play a constructive role for regional peace and stability,” the ministry added.

Afghan Taliban announces start of spring offensive

KABUL: The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive on Tuesday, pledging to launch large-scale offensives against government strongholds backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s Western-backed government from power.

The announcement of the formal start of “Operation Omari”, named after the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, comes just days after Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul and reaffirmed US support for the national unity government led by President Ashraf Ghani.

“Jihad against the aggressive and usurping infidel army is a holy obligation upon our necks and our only recourse for reestablishing an Islamic system and regaining our independence,” the Taliban said in a statement.

The insurgency has gained in strength since the withdrawal of international troops from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by U.S.-backed forces in 2001.

As well as suicide and tactical attacks, the operation would include assassinations of enemy commanders in urban centres, the Taliban statement said.

“The present Operation will also employ all means at our disposal to bog the enemy down in a war of attrition that lowers the morale of the foreign invaders and their internal armed militias,” it said.

In line with recent statements, it also said it would establish good governance in areas it controlled as well as avoiding civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.

How far the announcement will lead to an immediate escalation in fighting, which caused 11,000 civilian casualties last year, remains unclear. However, NATO and Afghan officials have said they expect very tough combat in 2016.

Heavy fighting has continued for months across Afghanistan, from Kunduz, the northern city that fell briefly to the insurgents last year, to Helmand province bordering Pakistan in the south.

In Helmand, where thousands of British and American troops were killed or injured fighting the Taliban, government forces have pulled back from many areas and are struggling to hold on to centres close to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

Understrength Afghan security forces, struggling with heavy casualties and high desertion rates and short of air power, transport and logistical support, have struggled in their first year fighting largely alone.

According to NATO commanders, the Taliban exerts control over only six percent of Afghanistan but up to a third of the country is at risk from the insurgents and government forces control no more than 70 percent of the country’s territory.

US General John Nicholson, who took over as commander of international troops in Afghanistan last month, is conducting a strategic review, including plans to cut US troops in Afghanistan from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of the year.

Unless the plan is changed, the reduction would mean the end of most of NATO’s training and assistance operation, leaving the remaining US troops focusing on counterterrorism operations against radical groups like Daesh.