Fulvio Martusciello, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), has urged the European Union (EU) to adopt an action-based approach on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in view of Chinese-Pakistani ‘disregard for human rights’.
In an article for EP Today, Martusciello pointed out that the governments of Pakistan and China have strong incentives to protect their investments in CPEC.
He further said that China and Pakistan wanted to silence those who are opposing the project as it passes through the occupied regions of Tibet, Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
“CPEC runs through Gilgit-Baltistan and Azaad Jammu and Kashmir, both regions universally understood to be Pakistan-occupied territories. Gilgit-Baltistan has been occupied since 1947, when a British-supported military coup led to Pakistani control. Through a variety of unilateral presidential decrees, Pakistan governs Gilgit-Baltistan by force,” Martusciello wrote in the article.
“Like the Pakistani government, the Chinese administration goes to great lengths to silence any expression of Tibetan activism. Journalists, celebrities and even heads of state have been severely criticised and intimidated by the Chinese government for meeting the Dalai Lama,’ he added.
