„…Among the first ones was a very interesting session: ‚Do All Roads lead to China‘ to coincide with launch of ‚The China-Pakistan Axis‘ authored by Andrew Small, who is considered an authority on Chinese affairs and the emerging trends in China.“
„…Technology is forever on our minds and “Virtual Empires,” presented with Jinnah Institute, highlighted some aspects that none of us can escape. The panellists included Hari Kunzru, Barnett Rubin, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Andrew Small, Eberhard Sandschneider, and Rashed Rahman.“
„….Andrew Small, author of a book on the relationship, says Beijing has earned real leverage. In 2007, under Chinese pressure, Islamabad raided the Lal Masjid “Red Mosque” after militants kidnapped several Chinese citizens. Chinese pressure has been one factor behind Pakistan’s offensive against militant groups in North Waziristan. For years, the US pushed for the same thing without success. The China-Pakistan axis is worth watching if only because it shows the limits of Beijing’s non-interventionist policy. As it gets sucked into the global whirlpool, it faces the risk of blowback.“
„…In light of this development, Andrew Small, China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, explains that almost every state in the region has sought to benefit from enhanced trade and investment with China, while attempting to leverage Beijing’s geopolitical heft – whether through support in the UN Security Council or a direct security relationship, for instance for Chinese workers in those countries.“
Andrew talks about the ramifications of Sino-Pakistani ties for the West, India, Afghanistan, and Asia as a whole as well as the dilemmas Beijing increasingly faces as it pursues its strategic rivalry with India and the United States.
Andrew talks about the ramifications of Sino-Pakistani ties for the West, India, Afghanistan, and Asia as a whole as well as the dilemmas Beijing increasingly faces as it pursues its strategic rivalry with India and the United States.
Andrew Small is interviewed by Owen Bennett-Jones on China-Taliban relations and The China-Pakistan Axis for BBC World Service’s Newshour. Audio available for 10 days.
Andrew Small of the German Marshall Fund, Stephen Tankel of American University and WOTR, and Joshua White of the Stimson Center joined Ryan Evans to talk about South and East Asian regional affairs, including the complex web of relations between Pakistan, China, India, and Afghanistan. Have a listen and read Andrew’s new book, The China-Pakistan Axis.
„…on economic development, Andrew Small argues that the United States and Europe, as the largest providers of development assistance and export destinations, still have a role to play in transforming Pakistan’s economy from its current parlous state. “But this would involve embracing and cooperating with a new wave of regional infrastructure initiatives and economic institutions, often driven by the Gulf States and China,” said the co-author of the report. The United States and Europe can also use their bilateral and multilateral economic leverage to advance efforts at regional integration and connectivity, he argued. “And they can use the military withdrawal from Afghanistan to reorient the relationship around economics and investment, in order to help Pakistan realize its potential as an emerging market,” he said.“
„…For China, the commercial ties are not just business opportunities. They also represent part of a broader strategy to help keep stability in a region marked by volatility.“Its [China’s] principal assets are economic and diplomatic,” writes Andrew Small, an analyst with the German Marshal Fund who specializes in China’s role in “problem” and fragile states. “The troubles of investing in Afghanistan, however, pale into insignificance by comparison with Beijing’s broader concerns about the future of the region. While China certainly wished to see an end to the presence of Western troops, it is contemplating with mounting concern the fact that it will no longer be able to rely on the Europeans and Americans to contain the worst of the potential outcomes after 2014.”“
„…Significantly, during his three-day stay in Beijing, Ghani will attend a meeting of the Istanbul Ministerial Process, which China is hosting for the first time. The conclave is considered the most important in the region, attended by the US and EU, for mapping the future of Afghanistan and its neighbors. Beijing’s host role for the meeting “is symbolic of their readiness to take on more responsibility for Afghanistan’s future than they have for the past 15 years,” says Andrew Small, an expert on China’s relationship with its Central Asian neighbors at the German Marshall Fund in Washington.“
„…Andrew Small, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, believes the issue of negotiations with the Taliban will be raised in Ghani Ahmadzai’s talks with Chinese officials, as Beijing’s influence on the insurgent group dates back to the 1990s when the Taliban allowed the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a Uighur militant group seeking independence for Xinjiang, to set up training camps on Afghan soil.“
„…But practical issues loom for both, a big one being Pakistan. Analysts Tanvi Madan of Brookings and Andrew Small of the German Marshall Fund both noted how unusual it was for Xi to visit India ahead of Pakistan, its only “all weather” ally in Asia. A planned Xi trip to Pakistan was scrubbed amid political turmoil there. Small and other analysts said Pakistan and the border issues remain “red lines” for Modi and India, but that China is growing increasingly concerned that Pakistan might be stirring Muslim militants in its western regions. The two nations also share an interest in peaceful post-conflict Afghanistan that might run counter to Pakistan’s ambitions.“
„…Andrew Small, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an American think tank, wrote in a recent report that 2014 will be a crucial year in defining Sino-Afghan relations. Not only has the United States set a date for departing, but Afghanistan is to hold a presidential election. To avoid unwanted attention from international terror networks, Small said China will continue to avoid getting involved in security issues, and instead focus on economics and diplomacy.“
„…While these attacks are still relatively crude and bear little sign of specialized training, they seem to have an audaciousness and deliberateness that wasn’t present before, said Andrew Small, an expert on China and Central Asia at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C. „The capacity of groups inside China to mount effective, politically targeted attacks does seem to be growing,“ Small said. „It’s a step beyond the sort of localized incidents in western Xinjiang that were taking off a few years ago.““
„…China’s push for a bigger role in Afghanistan is seen by some diplomats as an attempt to show it is a responsible global actor after rattling its own neighbours by asserting claims in the South China Sea. But Andrew Small, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund and author of an upcoming book on Chinese-Pakistan relations, said it is driven by a realization that its own security is at stake.Four years ago, Washington proposed several joint projects, including the construction of schools by China in Aynak – near its proposed copper mines – and teacher training by the US side. It took China almost two years to respond, Small said. Now the two countries work together training Afghan diplomats. “At the end of 2011, the Chinese realized America was leaving and they were getting this dumped on their lap,” he said. “Until then, China had sat completely on the sidelines. They just used to send people to read out statements in meetings.”
„…China has embarked on a frugality drive as part of a popular anti-corruption campaign which targeted both „tigers and flies“, referring to high and low ranking corrupt officials. „I think its vigor has certainly surprised everyone,“ Andrew Small, an expert on China issues from the Washington-based German Marshall Fund of the United States in an email interview. „The challenge is to turn a campaign into something that is more systemic, ensuring that there are right checks and balances in place,“ Small said.“
On March 1, in the Kunming train station, eight assailants with foot-long knives killed at least 29 people and injured 143 others. To discuss this event and its surrounding issues are Julia Famularo, Raffaello Pantucci, Alessandro Rippa, and Andrew Small.
„…But Chinese authorities have yet to explain how they plan to enhance security and stability in a region already so heavily policed. „The problem is: What can they do?“ said Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund. „They’ve already had their intelligence networks working there. Unless they now take measures to crack down on Uighurs moving around the country or step up surveillance of Uighurs in other parts of China, it’s quite difficult to address these kind of attacks.“
Andrew Small discusses the topic of his new book The China-Pakistan Axis–the often neglected relationship between Beijing and Islamabad. As someone who has traveled and done research in the region, Small is uniquely qualified to comment on this important facet of Chinese foreign policy. We also touch on the complicating roles of Afghanistan and Xinjiang.
„…For China, the reactors planned for Karachi would help cement that alliance and also have a commercial rationale, as a showcase for the ACP-1000 reactor and other Chinese nuclear technology, said Andrew Small, a researcher with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, based in Washington, who is writing a book about Chinese-Pakistani relations. No ACP-1000 reactors have been built, even inside China. “It would be an important overseas project to see whether they would be able to sell it to other countries,” Mr. Small said. He cited Chinese sources involved in dealing with Pakistan as saying: “It’s important. It’s going ahead, it needs to work, because it will be the proving case so that we can have other sales in the Gulf and elsewhere.““
„…The apparent change in tactics in the past few months has raised concern among many security experts that Uighur separatists may be learning from foreign Islamic militant groups, with whom Beijing has long accused them of having links. „You are seeing repeat patterns,“ said Andrew Small, a fellow with the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank in Washington. „It’s not necessarily centrally directed,“ he said. But there appear to be „similarities in the kinds of attacks“ that could suggest they are „separately initiated.“ In particular, Mr. Small noted the attacks appear to share the characteristics of „civilian targeting,“ low-grade munitions and sensitive timing.“