On October 10 and 12, Baloch activists and human rights defenders staged a silent protest in front of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Vancouver, Canada. The purpose of our demonstration was to highlight human rights abuses associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

 

China is investing US$46 billion on a series of economic and military projects that are proceeding on lands inhabited by indigenous Baloch people, and against their will. China’s long-term vision involves the construction of a naval base at the port of Gwadar, Balochistan, with a view to asserting its own interests in the Middle East and undermining the regional influence of the U.S. and European Union. For its part, the deep state of China’s ally Pakistan continues to support several Pakistan based extremists groups like Lashkar-e-Jangui, Laskar -e-Tayyaba , Pakistani Punjabi Talibans TTP and local based radical groups fostering instability both within Pakistan and in neighbouring countries.

 

Baloch human rights organizations report that Pakistani forces have abducted more than 20,000 Baloch activists, including women and children. Worse, the same human rights groups have said that more than 5,000 of these "enforced-disappeared" people have been killed in custody. Yet the UN and international community remain largely silent in the face of Pakistan’s serious human rights abuses in Balochistan.

 

China has become Pakistan's partner in the plunder of Balochistan’s abundant natural resources, without the consent of the indigenous population. China’s role in CPEC makes it complicit in serious, ongoing human rights violations against Baloch people by Pakistan. Islamabad has deployed thousands of troops to Balochistan to secure and facilitate extractive projects under the banner of CPEC; meanwhile, violent jihadist groups continue to infiltrate Balochistan and wreak havoc. Through their peaceful protest, Baloch activists aim to expose the true face of the Chinese government’s actions in Balochistan to the Canadian general public. In this young century, Communist China’s behaviour in neighbouring lands is increasingly reminiscent of 18th- and 19th-century British imperialism.

 

Through this protest action, we are attempting to express our people’s concern to the Canadian general public, policymakers, and the international community.