LAHORE: While Pakistan wants China to build a naval base at its south-western seaport of Gwadar in Balochistan, Beijing is more interested in setting up military bases either in Fata or
Gilgit-Baltistan, which is closer to the troubled Chinese province of Xinjiang. According to well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, the Chinese desire is meant to contain the growing terrorist activities of
the Chinese rebels belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). The Chinese Muslim rebels want the creation of an independent Islamic state and are allegedly being trained in the
tribal areas of Pakistan.

Beijing's wish for a military presence in Pakistan was discussed at
length by the political and military leadership of both the countries
in recent months as China has become ever more concerned about the
Pakistani tribal areas as a haven for radicals.
Beijing believes that similar to the American military presence in
Pakistan, a Chinese presence would enable its military to effectively
counter the Muslim separatists who had been operating from the tribal
areas of Pakistan for almost a decade and carrying out cross-border
terrorist activities in the trouble-stricken Xinjiang Province.
There were three high profile visits from Pakistan to China in recent
months: the first by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar; then by
President Asif Zardari followed by DG ISI Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
The Pakistani visits were reciprocated by the September 28, 2011
visits to Islamabad by the Chinese Vice Premier Meng Jianzhu and the
Chinese Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu. These visits were
actually prompted by the two bomb blasts in the Kashgar city of the
Xinjiang province on July 30 and 31, 2011, which killed 18 people. The
explosions provoked some senior government officials in Xinjiang to
publicly claim for the first time in recent years that the attackers
had been trained in explosives in the ETIM camps which are being run
by the Chinese Muslim separatists in the Waziristan tribal region of
Pakistan.
Beijing believes that the Chinese rebels operating from the Pakistani
tribal areas are well connected to al-Qaeda, which not only trains
them but also provides funding. Therefore, Pakistan and China, which
have been cooperating for a long time in the field of
counter-terrorism, have intensified their efforts to nip the evil of
terrorism in the bud, especially after the Kashgar blasts. In fact, it
was in the aftermath of the May 2 US raid [which had killed Osama bin
Laden in his Abbottabad hideout] that Islamabad started playing its
China card aggressively, perhaps to caution Washington against pushing
it too hard. Shortly after the raid, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
traveled to Beijing.
The accompanying Defence Minister, Ahmed Mukhtar, had stated on May
21, 2011 that whatever requests for assistance the Pakistani side
made, theChinese government was more than happy to oblige, including
agreeing to take over operation of the strategically positioned but
underused port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea upon expiry of a contract
with a Singaporean government company. He disclosed that Pakistan had
asked China to begin building a naval base at Gwadar, where Beijing
funded and built the port. "We would be grateful to the Chinese
government if a naval base is constructed at the site of Gwadar for
Pakistan," he said in a statement.
Knowledgeable defence ministry sources in Islamabad say by having a
Chinese naval base in the Gwadar area, Pakistan intends to
counterbalance the Indian naval forces. However, diplomatic circles in
Islamabad say Beijing, which has no military bases till now outside
its territory and has often been vocal in criticizing the American
moves for operating such bases, first wants to establish military
bases in Pakistan that could be followed by the setting up of the
naval base.
 Therefore, the Chinese National Defence Minister Liang Guanglie had
promptly dismissed on June 6, 2011 suggestions that Beijing was
carving out a permanent naval presence in India's neighbourhood in
South Asia. Answering questions at the 10th Asia Security Summit,
General Liang disclaimed move to build naval bases at Gwadar in
Pakistan and at a Sri Lankan port.
Chinese desire to have military bases in Pakistan is not a new one and
had been discussed even in the past. Analysts say although it might
not be politically feasible for the Pakistani government to openly
allow China to set up military bases on its soil, Islamabad might
allow Beijing the use of its military facilities without any public
announcement, as a first step. They say China's deepening strategic
penetration of Pakistan and the joint plans to set up not only new oil
pipelines and railroads, but also naval and military bases, are enough
to set alarm bells ringing in Delhi and Washington. But analysts say
the repercussions of the growing Pak-China strategic nexus are
particularly stark for India because both Beijing and Islamabad refuse
to accept the territorial status quo and lay claim to large tracts of
the Indian land, which could come under the Chinese sway once Beijing
is allowed to establish military bases in Pakistan.