The United States has urged China either to wave off or renegotiate what it called “unsustainable and unfair” debt of Pakistan as it once again raised serious questions about the lack of transparency in the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Wednesday.
“We hope China will join in either waving off debt or renegotiating these loans and creating a fair and transparent deal for Pakistani people,” said Alice Wells, the outgoing US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.
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“At a time of crisis like Covid-19, it is really incumbent on China to take steps to alleviate the burden that this predatory, unsustainable and unfair lending is going to cause to Pakistan,” Ambassador Wells said while addressing a farewell news briefing through a video link attended by journalists from South and Central Asia.
This was not the first time the US and Wells in particular publically questioned the viability of CPEC. Wells in the past also expressed similar views, declaring CPEC detrimental to Pakistan’s economy.
