On tuesday in the south of Pakistan, certain rebels attacked a Chinese university killing three Chinese teachers. These were Balochistani Liberation rebels, from the southern region of Pakistan, Balochistan. Not only has Balochistan already been mindful of their own sovereignty aspirations, however it being a hub of natural resources and mining, has opened it up to Chinese development prompted by the Pakistani government in the north. This ties itself to the Chinese Belt and Road initiative, all while the Balochis themselves see the resources in their region as their own yet held off from them. This one of many in a slew of attacks on Chinese nationals, including construction workers, and an attempt on the ambassador. The group warned Beijing that only a withdrawl will stop these attacks. I analyze this to be an outlier and definitely not the norm, and is because of the peculiar state of Pakistan. Most other countries that have been taken part in the Belt and Road have not seen widespread coordinated attacks on Chinese nationals, such as Ecuador or Southern Africa. The situation in Pakistan is particular because this is a nation and region already set in opposition and conflict with the geographically separated capital in the north. Now, foreign investors upon the request and agreement of the north without Balochi consent are operating in the use of the natural resources in their own region. I would guess that if Balochistan were a separate state then that government would almost definitely be one of the willing countries involved in Belt and Road. There are a few concepts from international relations found here, that are not necessarily complex, but are very notable to actually see be at play in modern times, when they largely seem theoretical and archaic; from the time of empires and swordsmen. Geopolitics for one, as Balochistan and northern Pakistan, with the state capital of Islamabad, are thoroughly divided and disconnected, exasperating the feelings of division and discontinuity, as well as the Balochi feeling of the ¨the far off non-Balochi elite.¨ Also is the idea of how different things are for the outcome of world events when a nation is a nation state as in this situation, Islamabad is who the Chinese have to go through to get in contact with the natural resources, even if, from their standpoint, it could be much easier to only work with the Balochis and are not emotionally invested in making deals with Islamabad and are only doing so out of circumstance.
