China’s pearl in Pakistan’s waters

When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Pakistan this month to inaugurate the Gwadar deepsea port, China will take a giant leap forward in gaining a strategic foothold in the Persian Gulf region. It will advance what a recent Pentagon report describes as Beijing’s “string of pearls” strategy that aims to project Chinese power overseas and protect China’s energy security at home.

Gwadar is a fishing village on the Arabian Sea coast in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Balochistan shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran to the west – Gwadar is just 72 kilometers from the Iranian border. More important is Gwadar’s proximity to the Persian Gulf. It is situated near the mouth of this strategic body of water, and about 400km from the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies
AsiaTimes