Nepal's PM KP Sharma Oli announced inviting Elon Musk to visit Nepal while preparing for a December 2 China trip. His advocacy for loan-based BRI projects drew opposition from coalition partner Nepali Congress, which stressed focusing on grant implementation instead.
The growing terrorist risk to Chinese citizens residing in Pakistan and differences over debt repayments have hindered the progress in the Belt and Road Initiative's projects of Islamabad and Beijing.
According to analysts, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) urge to control the country's south threatens to be a huge problem for restoring multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRO), reported Nikkei Asia.
China is chasing down unpaid debts, complicating Beijing's broader aspirations of extending its influence and forging new relationships through economic deals.
China-Taliban engagement is not new. The Taliban have been frequent visitors to China for years. Even in the 1990s, Beijing engaged with the Taliban to curb militants' infiltration into western China.
"I would suggest that let this be a cooperation between China, Pakistan, and Turkiye. This would be a wonderful joint cooperation ... This is how we can meet the challenges of today," Sharif was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
Amid growing negative public perception about Chinese investments and attacks on Chinese nationals, as well as, on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, safety and security have become the top agenda of Beijing.
Notably, a PSC protects a single strategic point, such as an embassy, port or military base. Mercator Institute for Chinese Studies (MERICS), in a 2018 report noted that there are 5,000 registered Chinese PSCs and some 3,200 personnel operating in several countries including Pakistan and Ira
CPEC is a part of China's most ambitious project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aimed at renewing the country's ancient trade routes in the coastal countries of south-east Asia.