Pakistan, which in the midst of nationwide protests against the French government now faces another protest against China for mistreatment of local Pakistani employees.
In Karachi, the financial capital of Pakistan, thousands of labourers on Wednesday (November 18) staged a protest against China, complaining about unequal wages compared to their Chinese compatriots.
According to a report published by The News International, Chinese staff recruited by the Punjab Mass Transit Authority for Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project received more salaries in comparison to their Pakistani employees.
This disparity in the income of the Pakistani staff has lowered the morale and to compound to the problem, there is a different grade system for the Chinese. Also, the Chinese staff are being paid in Yuan, and the Pakistani staff get their salaries in Pakistani rupees (PKR).
“On Wednesday, the value of 1 CNY against 1 PKR was equal to Rs 24.02. According to the data of the salaries of 93 Chinese working at the OLMT project, the Chinese staff is highly paid. If the salaries of Pakistani officials working on the same/equivalent seats are compared with those of Chinese staff, the Pakistan employees are getting mere peanuts. According to data, a Chinese-origin deputy chief executive officer/CFO/director with grade L2 is being paid 136,000 CNY per month which is equal to over Rs 36.26 lakh. There were three positions and all were filled with Chinese. No Pakistani was hired on this designation,” The News International stated.
The News International further gave data on salary disparity wherein 12 employees of Chinese origin working on the slot of train dispatcher/train crew are getting 57,000 CNY each, equal to Rs 10.36 lakh, however, Pakistans who are recruited for the same position are getting much lower salaries.
This unfair treatment has led to the Pakistani employees demanding a salary hike from the government and want the new salary structure at par with their Chinese counterparts.
Meanwhile, due the Wuhan virus, China has put a hold on projects under the $62 billion CPEC, a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Also, the ongoing sectarian and political unrest in Pakistan along with the crippling economic and foreign debt limits faced by Pakistan has forced China to slow down and delay investments in future projects in Pakistan.
Also, there is growing resentment in Pakistan as the fear of being trapped in a mountain of debt to China is growing every day.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning and Development on Tuesday may have cleared the CPEC Authority Bill 2020 with a majority, however, the opposition parties have strongly opposed the bill. Former minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal said, “Creation of CPEC authority is superfluous and unnecessary,” he said. “Ministry of planning has discharged the role diligently and effectively in the past.”
Many in Pakistan have come to realise that the national debt of USD 80 billion on account CPEC is a recipe for disaster and a danger to the sovereignty of Pakistan. Many in Pakistan have also noted how China has entrapped other under-developed countries with its unreasonable debt trap policies.
The opposition parties who are up in arms against the Imran Khan Niazi government have now realised that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) under the facade of Pakistan-China friendship is using CPEC project to turn Pakistan into a ‘Chinese colony’ and is using every opportunity to push the debt burden on Pakistan.