Sweet as Can Be?

The purpose of some alliances is to counter a rival’s power. Both China and Pakistani have long aimed to contain India’s power. Now “Pakistan seems keen to foster the impression that new tensions with America might nudge it even closer towards China,” suggests an essay in the Economist. Yet a downturn in the US-Pakistani relationship after the US secretly sent a team in to kill terror mastermind Osama bin Laden may not automatically strengthen the relationship between Pakistan and China. The Chinese-Pakistani relationship stands on its own merits, notes one analyst, and doesn’t depend on Pakistan’s ties with the US. “Both China and America want a stable Pakistan,” and “China wants to keep its relations with India in reasonable order,” the Economist maintains. For purposes of trade and security, China and the US share numerous reasons to link Pakistani aid with incentives for controlling extremism. – YaleGlobal