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With U.S. military aid cut, Pakistan eyes China
By Farhan Bokhari Topics Afghanistan , Pakistan , World Watch 38 Comments
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A newly-manufactured fighter aircraft - the JF-17 Thunder, jointly built by Pakistan and China, and painted with the Pakistani (R) and Chinese (L) national flags - is shown to press in this March 2007 file photo.
(Credit: AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images) ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's increasingly "close and effective defense ties" established with China during the past decade will allow Islamabad to "fill the gap" arising from the prospect of reduced military aid from the United States, a senior Pakistani official said on Sunday after reports emerged of cuts of up to $800 million in U.S. aid.
Amid tense relations with the United States, Pakistan officials have increasingly pointed towards Beijing as the country's natural ally, offering the possibility of becoming at least a half-substitute to ties with the U.S.
On Sunday, The New York Times reported that the Obama administration was suspending and in some cases canceling up to $800 million in annual military aid and equipment to Pakistan - more than one-third of the $2 billion earmarked for security assistance annually to the South Asian country.
The U.S. decision would mark a significant punitive measure by Washington which in the past has sought to build up close ties with Pakistan's armed forces (notably the Army and Air Force) in its campaign to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
But relations have continued to deteriorate since the May 2 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in which Osama bin Laden was targeted and killed in Pakistan's northern city of Abbottabad.
U.S. officials withheld information from their Pakistani counterparts until after the raid, mainly over concerns that sympathizers of Islamic militants within Pakistan's intelligence and military services would have alerted al Qaeda ahead of the attack.
Stung by the U.S. decision, Pakistan's influential military ordered more than 120 American trainers deployed in the country to leave.
On Sunday, the senior Pakistani official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity following the Times report said, "This tightening of U.S. military aid was expected. That's where our long-term relations with China will help to meet this gap."
In recent weeks, Pakistani officials have pointed towards.........link at bottom
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20078219-503543.html