A Chinese official has accused the United States of plotting against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chief Khalid Mansoor. Pakistan has accused the United States of conniving in cahoots with India against the economic lifeline of Pakistan. The United States supported by India is inimical to CPEC and will not let it succeed, Mansoor Ahmed said.
Many Western think tanks and commentators have termed CPEC an economic trap that has already resulted in public debt levels and disproportionately high Chinese influence in the domestic economy.
The United States and India are trying to “maneuver Pakistan out of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Mansoor Ahmad has said. The Western powers view CPEC as a symbol of China’s political ambition, he said.
Pakistan is seeking the expansion of the CPEC to Afghanistan and has discussed the possibility of Taliban-led Afghanistan joining the multi-billion-dollar economic corridor. The United States is now “taking stock of the economic and political consequences” of withdrawing from the region.
He mentioned fake news and “negative propaganda” concerning the viability of CPEC and its rate of growth several times. In terms of scale, CPEC phase 2 will be an order of Magnitude larger than phase 1.