It is interesting to note the attention Pakistan has received in the new China Military Power Report 2022 published by the US Department of Defense. This report not only categorises Pakistan as an ally of China, but also claims that China is now using Pakistan to showcase its own economic and military affluence.
It is about time for the US to overcome its zero-sum view of the bilateral relationship between China and Pakistan. The Biden administration had claimed that it would employ a more nuanced approach to deal with China, ranging from cooperation to competition or confrontation. Thus far, however, both countries are primarily competing for global influence and building up their capabilities for potential confrontation.
There are however some untapped opportunities for great power cooperation. Contending with climate change is a neutral yet vital issue which both countries seem willing to work together on. China and the US agreed to cooperate on climate at a summit in Paris eight years ago. Besides jointly working on curbing global emissions, the two countries had stated their intention to create smarter energy grids, develop cleaner vehicles, and explore means to enable effective carbon capture and storage. While a bilateral group was set up to discuss these issues, no significant progress has yet been made to showcase Sino-American climate collaboration.
Given that both the US and China are leading emitters, they can do much to curb their own emissions, they can work together on technological innovations which can address global warming, and they can jointly help poorer countries deal with the already unfolding impacts of climate change.
Pakistan is an ideal testing ground for America and China to address climate challenges together. Pakistan has bilateral relations with both these global powers since the time of its creation, and it desires to maintain robust ties with both these superpowers to avert overreliance on either of them.
There are several issues which China and the US can help Pakistan with including greening its coal-dependent energy portfolio and more effectively managing its water sources. There is ample room for the US to work alongside China to help make vital Pakistani infrastructure more resilient. American private investments in CPEC-created Special Economic Zones could turn these designated sites not only into economic engines but also environment-friendly hubs for internal climate migrants.
American and Chinese collaboration to help clean up the air in major Pakistani cities like Lahore would also be a welcomed initiative. Pakistan has much to learn from efforts made by cities like Los Angeles and Beijing, which have managed to drastically improve the choking air quality which is today causing serious harm to millions of hapless Pakistani citizens.
China is now a leading competitor for global affluence and American efforts to contain the further rise of China are understandable from a realpolitik perspective. Yet, great power confrontation or even competition will be of no avail in terms of dealing with the enormity of climate induced challenges.
During their meeting at the recent G20 Summit in Bali, both President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden reaffirmed their countries’ resolve to not only address climate-related issues within their own nations but also across the rest of the world. Pakistan is a neutral enough country to try and implement win-win resolutions, which can help the currently struggling climate hotspot country and generate much-needed goodwill between the rivaling great powers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2022.
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