China supports Pakistan on regional issues and is committed to provide tacit support in case of war with India. Just coming out of ‘the year of friendship-2011’, Sino-Pak relations are at an all-time high. For Pakistan, China is a low-cost and high-value deterrent against India.

Pakistan was the first Islamic and the third non-communist nation to recognise the People’s Republic of China in 1951. Their relationship blossomed after the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962. In its quest to win over China as a counter-weight against India, Pakistan ceded to China 5,180 sq km of territory in the Karakoram. In a single stroke, Pakistan made China party to the Kashmir dispute on its side. The two nations gradually grew to be de facto strategic allies with China providing economic and military assistance. Pakistan was again the first non-communist country China established a civil-aviation link with.

From 1966, China began to provide military assistance to Pakistan and immediately after Pakistan was dismembered in 1971, a formal strategic alliance was forged between the two nations. In 1978, China operationalised the Karakorum highway linking Northern Pakistan with Western China. Of late, China has become Pakistan’s largest arms supplier and the third largest trading partner. While China supports Pakistan on Kashmir, Pakistan in turn supports China on Tibet, Taiwan and Xinjiang. Pakistan also acts as a link between China and the Islamic world. Of greater concern for India has been China’s support for development programmes related to combat aircraft, guided missile frigates nuclear regime and missiles. Driven by its national strategic interest to secure a seaport close to the oil-rich Middle East; China invested heavily in the Gwadar deep-water port. Long-term plan is to lay an oil and gas pipeline from Gwadar to Central China. China supports Pakistan on regional issues and is committed to provide tacit support in case of war with India. Just coming out of ‘the year of friendship-2011’, Sino-Pak relations are at an all-time high. For Pakistan, China is a low-cost and high-value deterrent against India.

For years, Pakistan received substantial military aid from the US. The 1990 Pressler amendment to counter clandestine nuclear programmes resulted in suspension of aid to Pakistan, pushing it literally into the arms of China which is now regarded as its most reliable ally. President Pervez Musharraf had once called China their “time-tested all-weather friend”. A Chinese diplomat is believed to have told his American counterpart that Pakistan was China’s Israel. A survey in 2013 in Pakistan indicates that 90 per cent favour China over USA.

Military Ties

China helped Pakistan set up munitions factories and upgrading the existing ordnance factory at Wah near Rawalpindi. China allowed licensed production of the MBT-2000 (Al-Khalid) tank which was essentially a Chinese variant of Russian T-90. The armies of the two nations conduct joint exercises regularly. Pakistan Army has Chinese designed short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, including the Shaheen series with range up to 2,500 km. China has also built a turnkey ballistic missile manufacturing facility near Rawalpindi and will also construct four submarines for the Pakistan Navy. All these projects involve transfer of technology.

In 2008, a Chinese F-22P frigate joined the Pakistan Navy. Under serious global concerns, state-run Chinese Overseas Ports Holdings took over the management of the Gwadar port in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. It could not only become a strategic cargo gateway to the Western provinces of China, it can also serve as a port of call for China’s submarines and naval ships. Military related technology, infrastructure and equipment continue to be the major portion of $9 billion ( Rs. 54,000 crore) trade between the two countries. China has supplied Pakistan with nuclear technology and assistance, including perhaps the blueprint for Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. Chinese security agencies were reportedly in the know of transfer of nuclear technology by Pakistan to Iran, North Korea and Libya. After India secured a nuclear deal with USA, China agreed to set up two nuclear power stations in Pakistan.

Aerospace

The biggest spin-offs of Sino-Pak relationship has been in the areas of aerospace, nuclear and missile technologies. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is the eleventh largest air force in the world and the largest in the Islamic world with 400 combat and over 200 support aircraft. The combat aircraft are a mix of the US and Chinese origin. In 1965, China began supplying to PAF the F-6 aircraft which was an air defence version of the Russian MiG-19. A total of 253 were inducted over the years. One squadron of Harbin H-5, a Chinese version of Russian Illyshin IL-28, was formed in early 1970s. China helped establish ‘heavy industries’ at Taxila in 1971 for equipment rebuilding, and in 1973, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra North of Islamabad. 1983 onwards, PAF received 55 A-5Cs ground attack variant of the MiG-19 and 186 Chengdu F-7s, Chinese equivalent of the MiG-21. Chinese F-6s and French Mirages among others were assembled at the facility in Kamra.

With the freezing of deliveries of the F-16 and spares for many years as a result of Pressler amendment, Pakistan turned to China for all its aerospace needs. In 2007, as a part of a jointventure project, China rolled out a ‘designed for Pakistan’ Fighter JF-17 ‘Thunder’, also called FC-1 Fierce Dragon. This lightweight fighter uses Russian and Israeli Lavi programme technologies of the 1990s. Joint production and further development of the JF-17 multi-role fighter is still on. Currently, PAF has 100 of these and the strength is likely to increase to 150 by 2015 and eventually to 300. These will replace the ageing A-5s, F-7P, Mirage-III and Mirage-V fighter-bombers. This programme is also a signal to the US that Pakistan has other avenues to explore for its security needs. Orders have been placed for at least 36 Chengdu J-10 ‘Vigorous Dragon’ fighters (export version called Vanguard-10 and PAF designation FC-20). These are likely to enter service by 2015. Pakistan is the only country to receive J-10 with Saturn-Lyulka AL-31FN engine despite opposition from Russia. This tailless delta wing with canards is being compared by the Chinese with JAS-39 and Dassault Rafale. The J-10B will one day have the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and be equipped with the improved version of the failed Chinese WS-10A engine which is a copy of AL-31FN with 12,500 kg thrust. Short-range air-to-air missiles PL-8 and PL-9, medium-range radar-guided air-to-air missiles PL-11 and PL-12, precision-guided munitions (PGMs) including laser-guided bombs, anti-ship missiles such as the YJ-9K and anti-radiation missiles such as the PJ-9, are part of the package.

In addition to Swedish airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) Saab 2000 Erieye, six ZDK-03 Chinese AWACS based on the Shaanxi Y-8F-600 cargo aircraft have been inducted. The fleet of Chinese Shenyang FT-5 and American T-37 trainers is being replaced by Chinese designed K-8 Karakorum intermediate jet trainers. Sixty are currently in service and more are on order. The K-8 is based on Chinese Hongdu L-15 aircraft. PAF has also received four CH-4 reconnaissance-cum-strike drones which can carry up to four PGMs and reportedly have endurance of 30 hours. Chinese SD-10 air-to-air missiles will arm the fleet of 250 JF-17 aircraft. The Chengdu J-10 fighters are being touted as superior to the Lockheed Martin F-16C.

The US intelligence revealed that China had transferred 34 M-11 missiles with related technology and manufacturing capability to Pakistan. Re-transfer of ballistic and cruise missiles technology to Iran, Syria and Libya militates against the US interests in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Despite Chinese pledge to the contrary, it has continued to provide Pakistan with specialty steels, guidance systems and technical expertise in the latter’s effort to develop long-range ballistic missiles. The M-11 is a replica of DF-11; and the Hatf, Shaheen and Anza series of missiles have been built with Chinese assistance.

Nuclear Association

When the West clamped down on nuclear proliferation, China and Pakistan signed a comprehensive nuclear cooperation agreement in 1986. China supplied the equipment required to build Khusab reactor which is a key plutonium production facility. Chinese nuclear corporation also provided critical, globally banned items for uranium enrichment at the Chashma Complex. In 1989, China agreed to supply a 300 MW commercial nuclear power plant, Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (CHASHNUPP-1). In the 1990s, Chinese Nuclear Corporation sold to Pakistan thousands of ring magnets used in centrifuges. China helped Pakistan develop nuclear warheads and to run a risk-free programme. All this directly contributed to Pakistan having nearly 100 nuclear warheads by 2011. To pay back for its friendship, Pakistan gave China access to the crashed stealth American helicopter from the Osama raid.

The Hope

Schoolchildren here are taught that the China-Pakistan partnership is “as high as the mountains and as deep as the seas”. The US may be Pakistan’s largest benefactor, but China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner. Of late, Pakistani officials have been suggesting to Afghan leaders to look towards China as an ascendant power, rather than align themselves with the US. India is under threat of a possible two-front war with the two nuclear neighbours, both of whom have had conflicts with India. Recent Chinese incursion in DBO has been a muscle-flexing exercise. Any foreign involvement in South Asia is unacceptable to India. While Pakistan continues to be a key element of China’s ‘string of pearls’ policy, the rise of Taliban, killing of Chinese industrial workers in Pakistan and Pakistani support to Islamic movement in Xinjiang, continue to impinge on the Sino-Pak relationship. A recent survey by the USbased Pew Research Center suggests that Pakistan is a universally disliked country, and 52 per cent of Chinese also see Pakistan unfavourably. The Chinese response is not surprising as Pakistantrained Uighur Muslims have launched terror strikes in China. Sino-US convergence in stopping Islamic terrorism could act as a dampener for Pakistan. China’s larger economic interest in the large Indian market also acts as a counterbalance. India needs to closely watch the developing Sino-Pak nexus.