CHINESE envoy and Pakistani leaders on Thursday warned of growing threats to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from fake news and disinformation and emphasized the need for cooperation in countering it.
The issue was highlighted at the 7th CPEC Media Forum which was jointly hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan-China Institute and China Economic Net, where the speakers talked about the potential of propaganda, misinformation and fake news to polarize public opinion, promote violent extremism and undermine the development project.
Since its inception, the detractors have been pursuing a malicious propaganda campaign to undermine the CPEC project.
These hostile forces, in fact, are enemies of both Pakistan and China which do not want the region making progress on the economic front.
Sometimes, the project is termed as a debt trap for Pakistan whilst at other times the workers engaged with the corridor related projects are attacked and killed.
It is, however, a matter of satisfaction that both the countries whilst conscious of the threats have repeatedly expressed their commitment to the CPEC.
Regardless of recent attacks on Chinese workers in Pakistan, the Chinese government continues to encourage the Chinese companies to invest in the country.
Also in difficult economic times, it has rolled over the Pakistani loans. This is why this relationship is dubbed as higher than the Himalayas and sweeter than the honey.
Expediting work on the CPEC, in fact, is the best answer to its detractors.
This is a game changer project not only for Pakistan but also the entire region as it will promote regional connectivity and bring the peoples close to each other.
We will suggest greater collaboration between different media platforms of both the countries as well as people-to-people contacts at different levels in order to collectively and effectively counter the baseless campaign against the CPEC.
The CPEC Media Forum must be more forthcoming to promote truth about the corridor project.
At the same time, foolproof security should also be ensured for the Chinese workers to foil the nefarious designs of the enemy against this development project.
