Chinese investment in Eurasia is not always smooth

IF ANYWHERE ALONG the belt and road should be benefiting from Chinese largesse, it is Pakistan. The country counts as China’s only real ally, as a partner on China’s vulnerable western flank and a balancer against India. China gave Pakistani scientists the know-how and materials to build a nuclear bomb. A joint-venture slogan factory had long churned out declarations of a friendship “higher than the Himalayas”. So, although financing for BRI projects everywhere has slowed over the past year (see chart), Pakistan seems like a place where it should naturally have taken hold.