From the Los Angeles Times:
Along a scenic beach where fishermen mend their nets by hand, an endless row of storefronts stretches into the distance, all selling the same thing. Not sunscreen, umbrellas or cold drinks. Land.
Never mind that the area is home to a violent separatist movement, or that foreigners are regarded with suspicion by police. A property boom has hit this formerly sleepy town in southwest Pakistan because of the latest addition to Gwadar’s modest charms: a strategic new port on the Arabian Sea, almost all of it paid for by China.
…Officials in countries such as India and the United States are eyeing the port warily, seeing more there than mere commercial value.
They fear its possible future use as a base for Chinese ships and submarines, given the close ties the governments of China and Pakistan have enjoyed for decades. From Gwadar, analysts note, China could project its growing economic and military might westward, toward the Middle East, western India and eastern Africa, and down into the Indian Ocean. [Full text]
