Shehbaz Sharif 'better' for China-Pak ties than Imran Khan: Chinese state media

Chinese official media on Sunday sounded upbeat about the prospects of Shehbaz Sharif becoming the new prime minister following the ouster of Imran Khan, saying all-weather ties between China and Pakistan "could be better than under Khan".

A new Pakistan government will be formed most likely under Shehbaz, the younger brother of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after Parliament reconvenes on Monday to vote for a new premier, a write up in the state-run Global Times said.

"Chinese and Pakistani analysts consider that the solid China-Pakistan relations will not be affected by the internal political change in Pakistan because to safeguard and develop the bilateral ties is the joint consensus of all parties and all groups in Pakistan,” it said.

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"The potential successor of Khan is from the Sharif family which has been promoting China-Pakistan ties for a long time, and cooperation between the two countries could be even better than under Khan," it said, adding that close ties between the two countries were better under the traditional political parties.

The $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) progressed better under the previous Nawaz Sharif government.

China had reservations about Khan as he was a critic of the project when he was in the opposition though he later became its big admirer after assuming office in 2018.

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The latest political change in Pakistan is mainly caused by political party struggles and issues with the economy and people's livelihoods, said Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University.

Qian added that due to the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, many people in the country believe that Khan's administration has failed to stop the economic situation from worsening,

"In general, current internal problems in Pakistan have nothing to do with its solid ties with China, so there will not be a significant impact on China-Pakistan cooperation,” he said.

"Khan is from a newly rising political party…, and when traditional major political parties like the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) or the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) return to power, China-Pakistan cooperation could be even better because these traditional major parties have much closer and deeper ties with China,” Qian told the daily.

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When Shehbaz was a regional leader of the eastern province of Punjab, he signed many Belt and Road Initiative cooperation deals with China directly to improve local infrastructure and economic development, and his family has maintained long-standing ties with China as his brother Nawaz Sharif is a three-time former prime minister and the leader who kicked off the CPEC project, the Chinese experts said.

Significantly, the write-up also commented on Khan’s problematic ties with the powerful Pakistan military, which caused his downfall.

Some voices have said that the Pakistani military does not like Imran Khan's diplomatic stance, which they believe has impacted the neutrality of the country and brought unnecessary friction with the superpowers of the world as the country's military also has cooperation with the US,” it said.

"This is another reason why the Imran Khan administration was ousted, but we need to remember that the Pakistani military also attaches great importance to ties with China," Qian said.

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