by TOM WRIGHT (New Delhi) and JEREMY PAGE (Beijing)
Mining Company Abandons $19 Billion Pact; Move Is Setback to Islamabad’s Effort to Establish Beijing as Foil to U.S.
A Chinese mining company pulled out of what was to be Pakistan’s largest foreign-investment deal because of security concerns, complicating Islamabad’s effort to position its giant neighbor as an alternative to the U.S. as its main ally.
An official at China Kingho Group, one of China’s largest private coal miners, said on Thursday it had backed out in August from a $19 billion deal in southern Sindh province because of concerns for its personnel after recent bombings in Pakistan’s major cities.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani used a visit this week from Meng Jianzhu, China’s minister of public security, to promote the friendship, which Mr. Gilani said was “higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey.”
WSJ for more
(Thanks to Robin Khundkar; his comment: Got to Love the rhetoric but reality could be otherwise.