Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in November 2014

Iron Brothers: edit in the Nation, November 23, 2014

The Chinese have chosen a new moniker for the Pakistan-China relationship in recent days; “Iron Brothers”. Perhaps this represents, amongst the symbolic show of strength, the nature of their recent ventures. As the details of exactly what the much touted terms of “$45.6 billion dollars worth of investment” contains, a clearer picture emerges, but not an entirely pleasant one. For the most part it seems to a be a milestone project; the Pakistan China Economic…

Business [un]friendly: Chinese customs officials accused of unfair treatment

By Shabbir Mir  in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2014. GILGIT: The chief of Gilgit-Baltistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GBCCI) has complained that Chinese officials at immigration and customs departments are violating protocols signed between the two countries by using tactics to discourage exports from Pakistan.   Speaking at a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir on Tuesday, GBCCI President Javed Hussain said, “Pakistani traders are facing problems at Chinese immigration…

Markhor hunting permits auctioned off for over $61,500 each

  By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2014. GILGIT: Big game hunters bid over $61,500 for each of four permits giving them a chance to hunt the endangered markhor in SKB-Sassi Harmosh area in Gilgit. Markhor is Pakistan’s national animal.   Muhammad Ali Shah, a hunting outfitter representing Zoon Safari, an Islamabad-based firm, was the highest bidder with $62,000.   The auction which took place on Thursday was supervised by Wildlife and…

Chinese courts crack down on journalist Gao Yu and Muslim Prof Ilham Tohti

By William Wan  in  The Washington Post, Nov 22, 2014 BEIJING — In a double-barreled attack on freedom of expression, Chinese authorities put a prominent journalist on trial Friday and denied the appeal of Uighur professor Ilham Tohti, a leading moderate Muslim voice. Behind closed doors in Beijing, longtime journalist Gao Yu, 70, was tried on charges of leaking state secrets. Meanwhile, across the country in the restive region of Xinjiang, a hearing for Tohti…

PML-N leaders in G-B irked by federal minister’s visit: By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.

  GILGIT:  Regional leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have criticised Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir for visiting Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) on the invitation of members of the G-B Chamber of Commerce & Industry (G-BCCI).   “By accepting the invitation from an organisation that is blacklisted, the minister has given protection to those who have defaulted on billions of rupees in loans from the National Bank [of Pakistan],” stated a press release issued by…

China Detains an American Who Assists North Koreans: by JANE PERLEZ  in the NY Times, Nov 21, 2014

BEIJING — A Korean-American aid worker who lived in China on the border with North Korea for more than a decade has been detained by the Chinese authorities, his lawyer said Thursday.   The aid worker, Peter Hahn, who is 73 and escaped from the North many years ago, is suspected of embezzlement and possession of fraudulent receipts, said the lawyer, Zhang Peihong.   Mr. Hahn ran a Christian aid agency in Tumen City, a…

Pak-China onward: by Aymen Ijaz in The Nation, November 20, 2014

The writer works for Islamabad Policy Research Institute. Nawaz Sharif’s recent visit to China was a breath of fresh air in the stagnant political environment created by the prolonged political sit-ins in the capital. The inter-state visit strengthened bilateral ties and economic co-operation between both countries. Almost 19 trade agreements and MOUs in the field of infrastructure, technology, polio prevention, solar housing and energy have been signed. At present, Pakistan-China has bilateral trade of almost…

Birmingham police force PPP to cancel meeting:By Murtaza Ali Shah in The News, November 16, 2014

BIRMINGHAM: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was forced to cancel a major rally here at the last minute after the police told the organisers that it could not allow PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend the rally over serious security concerns. PPP leaders, led by Azad Kashmir leaders including Chaudhary Abdul Majeed and Chaudhary Yaseen, had campaigned for well over two weeks day and night across the UK in communities originally from Azad Kashmir…

Guilty before trial: ‘Won’t play the devil’s advocate’: report  in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2014.

GILGIT: Lawyers of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) have decided not to extend legal support to the three teenagers apprehended for allegedly sexually abusing and murdering an eight-year-old boy in Gilgit last week.   “We have decided not to fight their cases in the court of law,” said district bar president Raja Zia while speaking to The Express Tribune on Saturday. “Like all others, the gruesome murder has left us in a state of shock and we think…

WB team listens to people affected by Dasu dam project : Dawn, November 14th, 2014

  MANSEHRA: A delegation of the World Bank visited Kohistan on Thursday and met with the people being affected by Dasu hydropower project in an attempt to settle the dispute over land price between the landowners and Wapda.   The construction work of the dam was suspended a couple of months ago after the landowners and affected people refused to give their land on prices fixed by the district revenue department and forcibly got the…

Killing of minor boy sparks protest in Gilgit: report in Dawn, November 14th, 2014

GILGIT: The killing of eight-year-old boy student after alleged sexual assault sparked a big protest in Gilgit city on Thursday.   A large number of boy and girl students from different schools in Gilgit, classmates of the victim, traders and workers of political and religious parties of the region held a protest demonstration at Hunza Chowk by blocking the main road of the city. They chanted slogans against the killing of class-I student allegedly by…