INTRODUCTION:

The bond between the two countries China and Pakistan was established in 1950
when the Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the People’s
Republic of China. Since then both countries have placed considerable importance
on the maintenance of an extremely close and supportive special relationship and
the two countries have regularly exchanged high-level visits resulting in a variety of
agreements. China has provided economic, military, and technical assistance to
Pakistan, and each country considers the other a close strategic ally.

70 YEARS OF PAKISTAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA:

A common quotation referred to China-Pakistan Friendship is
"A Friendship Higher than Himalayas, deeper than ocean, sweeter than honey, and
stronger than steel."
The 22 nd of May 2021 marked the 70 th anniversary of diplomatic ties
between China and Pakistan that began in 1951.

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China were established on 21 May

1951, shortly after the Republic of China lost power in the Mainland in 1949. In
1956, Pakistani Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Chinese
Premier Zhou Enlai signing the Treaty of Friendship Between China and Pakistan,
marking closer bilateral ties. Zhou Enlai was statesman who established relations
with Pakistan. From there, the relations between the two countries moved from
strength to strength.

With escalating border tensions leading to the 1962 Sino-Indian war, China and
Pakistan aligned with each other in a joint effort to counter India and the Soviet
Union as both have border disputes with India. One year after China's border war
with India, Pakistan ceded the Trans-Karakoram Tract to China to end border
disputes and improve diplomatic relations. Since then, an informal alliance that
initially began as mutual opposition towards India has grown into a lasting
relationship that has benefited both nations on the diplomatic, economic and
military frontiers.
Since the two sides established their "all-weather diplomatic relations", there have
been frequent exchanges between the two countries' leadership and peoples. In
2004, a road in Pakistani capital Islamabad leading to the Diplomatic Enclave was
named "Zhou Enlai Road". It is the first road in Pakistan that is named after foreign
leaders. On 20 April 2015, Chinese President and Communist Party General
Secretary Xi Jinping visited Pakistan as his first foreign visit of the year, also the first
by a Chinese president in 9 years. Before his arrival, he published an article praising
the friendship on Pakistani newspapers. The Chinese president compared visiting
Pakistan with visiting his brother's home.

When I was young, I heard many touching stories about Pakistan and the friendship
between our two countries. To name just a few, I learned that the Pakistani people
were working hard to build their beautiful country, and that Pakistan opened an air
corridor for China to reach out to the world and supported China in restoring its
lawful seat in the United Nations. The stories have left me with a deep impression. I
look forward to my upcoming state visit to Pakistan.
— Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China before his 2015 visit to
Pakistan

There are strong military ties between China and Pakistan. This alliance between
two neighbouring East-South Asian nations is significant geopolitically. The strong
military ties primarily aim to counter regional Indian and American influence, and
was also to repel Soviet influence in the area. In recent years this relationship has
strengthened through ongoing military projects and agreements between Pakistan
and China. China and Pakistan are involved in several projects to enhance military
and weaponry systems. China is the largest investor in Pakistan's Gwadar Deep Sea
Port. It is viewed warily by both the U.S. and India as a possible launchpad for
the Chinese Navy, giving them the ability to launch submarines and warships in the
Indian Ocean.

If you love China, love Pakistan too.

Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China
Pakistan has been one of China's major trade partners.
Recently though, economic trade between Pakistan and China is increasing, and
a free trade agreement has been signed. Military and technological transactions
continue to dominate the economic relationship between the two nations, and
China has pledged to increase their investment in Pakistan's economy and
infrastructure.
As in seventy years the People's Republic of China moved to the center of the
world stage, became the world's largest economy (by purchasing power parity
rating) in 2014, it has also helped Pakistan by bringing in more of its expertise and
investment. The Chinese economic boom has not only helped Pakistan in a way but
also ushered new era of development in the country especially after signing of
multi-billion CPEC agreement.

CHINA–PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR

The CPEC will connect Pakistan with China and the Central Asian countries with
highway connecting Kashgar to Khunjerab and Gwadar. Gwadar Port in southern
Pakistan will serve as the trade nerve centre for China, as most of its trade
especially that of oil will be done through the port, which is operated by the China
Overseas Port Holding Company, a state-owned Chinese company.

The plan seeks to build on a market presence already established by Chinese

enterprises, Haier in household appliances, ChinaMobile and Huawei in
telecommunications and China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) in mining
and minerals. In other cases, such as textiles and garments, cement and building
materials, fertiliser and agricultural technologies (among others) it calls for building
the infrastructure and a supporting policy environment to facilitate fresh entry.
According to the plan, a key element in this is the creation of industrial parks, or
special economic zones, would be done with the provision of water, perfect
infrastructure, sufficient supply of energy and the capacity of self-service power.

FACTORS FOR AN ALLIANCE WITH PAKISTAN:

An Indian expert spoke about the factors of China’s alliance with Pakistan.
The expert raised the question that “Why is a state such as Pakistan that
constantly sits on the precipice of failure the recipient of China’s support?”
Further she dicusses some domestic factors to get a more comprehensive
pivture of Pak-China relations.

1- Border:
The first is China’s self-defined border and territorial integrity. China
remains a divided country (Taiwan) even after seven decades of the
establishment of the PRC. Even on the mainland, some regions and groups
are not fully integrated into the political and cultural system. They have
interactions across international borders—like Tibet with India, Hong Kong
with the West, Xinjiang with Central Asia and Turkey, etc. China’s interest
in maintaining good relations with Pakistan, which has denied support to
the separatists, can be explained in this light.

2- China’s relations with neighbours:

The second factor consists of China’s relations with the neighbouring
countries with which it shares either land or maritime borders. China has a
uniquely challenging neighbourhood with massive countries, some with
unstable regimes. Potential rivals—Japan, India and Russia— have
permanent security interests that are often averse to China’s. Others like
North Korea and the Central Asian republics are weak and unstable, with
risks of regime breakdown or civil disorder. In this case, Pakistan has
proven to be a consistent supporter and an ally by balancing China’s main
competitor in South Asia, India.

3- Regional systems surrounding China:

The third factor consists of the politics of six multi-state regional systems
surrounding China—like South Asia, East Asia, etc.; such that China can
rarely make policy with only one state in mind or without accounting for
implications on relations with the US. In Pakistan’s case, China has
benefitted from the presence of the US, especially as the latter has borne
the costs of the ‘War on Terror’ and provided crucial aid to Pakistan,
supporting different democratic and military regimes. At the same time,
negative perception of the American presence within Pakistan has also
helped bolster the Chinese involvement.

4- China’s security interest:

Finally, the fourth ring of China’s security interest consists of the rest of
the world—Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and others.
Here, China is pursuing energy resources, commodities and investment,
and diplomatic support on various issues. Pakistan has played a role in
China’s rapprochement with the US and its entry into international
organisations like the World Bank. The relationship has been pertinent to
the development of Beijing’s links with the Middle Eastern states as well.
Currently, China’s quest for energy security (by overcoming reliance on
the Malacca Strait) under its Belt and Road Initiative has placed Pakistan
at the centre of its geo-economic and geopolitical strategy. Furthermore,
despite China’s weakness in building military alliances vis-à-vis the US,
Pakistan has emerged as a ready partner, as is visible with the recent
defence pact to counter the QUAD and cooperation over Afghanistan.
Certainly not how minorities should be treated! But there’s much else that
China can teach Pakistan.(Max Weber)

CONCLUSION:
The support that China and Pakistan give each other is considered significant in
global diplomacy, and has been compared to Israel–United States
relations and Russia–Serbia relations. When confronted by US officials about
Beijing's uncompromising support for Pakistan, Chinese General Xiong
Guangkai famously said, "Pakistan is China's Israel."
The author of The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia's New Geopolitics concludes the
book by connecting the bilateral relationship to broader themes in Chinese
foreign policy. According to the author, on the one hand, Pakistan is both a
Chinese pawn (against India) and platform for power projection, but there are
limits to this approach. For instance, as Small notes, "Beijing's counterterrorism
strategy has been essentially parasitic on the United States being a more
important target for transnational militant groups than China. It's unclear how
long that can last.
‘ Indeed China's ties with Pakistan, which were established during Mao's rule
and are based on shared hostility towards India, thrive on many common
interests. ‘ (Andrew Small, the author of The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia's New
Geopolitics)

References:
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/lessons-in-friendship-explaining-70-
years-of-china-pakistan-relations/
The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia's New Geopolitics by Andrew Small
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations#Military_rel
ations