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The Karakoram Highway, between Pakistan and China, is an amazing engineering achievement. The cartoonist and author Ted Rall has visited Central Asia many time

The Karakoram Highway, between Pakistan and China, is an amazing engineering achievement. The cartoonist and author Ted Rall has visited Central Asia many times. http://rall.com/2009/06/04/the-karakoram-highway http://rall.com/2009/06/04/the-karakoram-highway

caf 10y ago
That's a great article - it'd be interesting to know if the KKH has changed much in the intervening 17 years.
- amingilani 10y ago
  It's still just as mad. I went up to the Pakistan-China border last year.
- Animats 10y ago
  Apparently there are still bad sections, but more of the highway has been upgraded.[1] China is providing most of the money. In 2010, a major earthquake caused landslides which created a new lake, taking out part of the highway. It took until 2015 to build a new route with 5Km of tunnels. Here's a partial list of projects being funded in Pakistan by China.[2] China's government seems determined to get a land linkup to Europe. Yet this isn't the main "New Silk Road" route - that's further north, through Iran and Iraq.[3] With all the wars in that area, China apparently sees a need to have multiple alternate routes for trade. Good thinking in Beijing. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_the_Karakoram_Highway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_the_Karakora... [2] http://boi.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/List%20of%20MoUs.docx http://boi.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/List%20of%20MoUs.docx [3] http://www.xinhuanet.com/silkroad/english/index.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/silkroad/english/index.htm
  - zhte415 10y ago
    China is also extremely interested in economically developing its inner regions, as they've lagged economic development which has come to coastal regions due to high cost of logistics. Anything bought in Islamabad that's 'made in China' was likely manufactured on China's east cost, and arrived via ship. If it would be economically viable to have the same thing manufactured in Xinjiang or Qinghai, and shipped by road, it would be a huge boost for those areas. Especially if linked through Pakistan's road network to sea ports, bringing easy access to Middle East, Europe, Africa as ships would no longer have to navigate via Singapore. An in reverse, it would be a huge diversification of import routes for commodities could come in via another route. Not oil specifically, but all kinds of bulk. Bulk carries of commodities are far less efficient than oil ships, the largest with a capacity of 100,000 tons but 30-60k capacity more common (far less than the capacity of a supertanker). So commodities needed to develop the west of China now have a simpler, more efficient route.
fdsak 10y ago
Most of the article is biased reflections of the author.
- fdsak 10y ago
  I have lots of issues with this author and article. I am one of the locals from that region. The picture caste in this article is very biased and not acceptable. There are issues but not that bleak as depicted by the author. Specially the things describe about Gilgit and Hunza are not correct. The KKH has greatly helped reduced the poverty and its a vital resource for us and all the remote communities. "Violence has been a part of life here since Pakistan and India were partitioned in 1947" >> absolutely wrong , its started after US started funding Taliban after late 90s and now its completely peaceful. "the signs of the cheapness of life are everywhere—starving children and maimed old men line the sidewalks" >> there is poverty but not that much as forcefully describe here. "more than 10,000 people have been shot, bombed and lynched there during the ‘90s alone" >> Ask who was behind it ? and you will get name , who funded cold-war, .. just the same b.s again .. "A stone’s throw from the Line of Control between Pakistani- and Indian-held Kashmir" >> I dont have any good words, there is not a single place where we are so exposed to LOC crossfire.It could be Kashmir but not Gilgit-Baltistan(GB). Lots of lies and biased commentary .. take it with grain of salt.
  - trelltron 10y ago
    This article is from 1999 though. It's probably wrong for 2016, but that's to be expected.
  - LordFrith 10y ago
    > Ask who was behind it ? and you will get name , who funded cold-war, .. just the same b.s again .. I am pretty sure Ted Rall will agree with you that meddling from foreign empires, like the US, causes violence in Central Asia.
  - LordFrith 10y ago
    Have you read Ted Rall's 2006 book Silk Road To Ruin? I'm interested enough in the opinion of a Central Asia local that I would mail you a copy.
temuze 10y ago
Great read. Thanks for sharing.

caf 10y ago

That's a great article - it'd be interesting to know if the KKH has changed much in the intervening 17 years.

amingilani 10y ago
It's still just as mad. I went up to the Pakistan-China border last year.
Animats 10y ago
Apparently there are still bad sections, but more of the highway has been upgraded.[1] China is providing most of the money. In 2010, a major earthquake caused landslides which created a new lake, taking out part of the highway. It took until 2015 to build a new route with 5Km of tunnels. Here's a partial list of projects being funded in Pakistan by China.[2] China's government seems determined to get a land linkup to Europe. Yet this isn't the main "New Silk Road" route - that's further north, through Iran and Iraq.[3] With all the wars in that area, China apparently sees a need to have multiple alternate routes for trade. Good thinking in Beijing. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_the_Karakoram_Highway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_the_Karakora... [2] http://boi.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/List%20of%20MoUs.docx http://boi.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/List%20of%20MoUs.docx [3] http://www.xinhuanet.com/silkroad/english/index.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/silkroad/english/index.htm
- zhte415 10y ago
  China is also extremely interested in economically developing its inner regions, as they've lagged economic development which has come to coastal regions due to high cost of logistics. Anything bought in Islamabad that's 'made in China' was likely manufactured on China's east cost, and arrived via ship. If it would be economically viable to have the same thing manufactured in Xinjiang or Qinghai, and shipped by road, it would be a huge boost for those areas. Especially if linked through Pakistan's road network to sea ports, bringing easy access to Middle East, Europe, Africa as ships would no longer have to navigate via Singapore. An in reverse, it would be a huge diversification of import routes for commodities could come in via another route. Not oil specifically, but all kinds of bulk. Bulk carries of commodities are far less efficient than oil ships, the largest with a capacity of 100,000 tons but 30-60k capacity more common (far less than the capacity of a supertanker). So commodities needed to develop the west of China now have a simpler, more efficient route.

fdsak 10y ago

Most of the article is biased reflections of the author.

fdsak 10y ago
I have lots of issues with this author and article. I am one of the locals from that region. The picture caste in this article is very biased and not acceptable. There are issues but not that bleak as depicted by the author. Specially the things describe about Gilgit and Hunza are not correct. The KKH has greatly helped reduced the poverty and its a vital resource for us and all the remote communities. "Violence has been a part of life here since Pakistan and India were partitioned in 1947" >> absolutely wrong , its started after US started funding Taliban after late 90s and now its completely peaceful. "the signs of the cheapness of life are everywhere—starving children and maimed old men line the sidewalks" >> there is poverty but not that much as forcefully describe here. "more than 10,000 people have been shot, bombed and lynched there during the ‘90s alone" >> Ask who was behind it ? and you will get name , who funded cold-war, .. just the same b.s again .. "A stone’s throw from the Line of Control between Pakistani- and Indian-held Kashmir" >> I dont have any good words, there is not a single place where we are so exposed to LOC crossfire.It could be Kashmir but not Gilgit-Baltistan(GB). Lots of lies and biased commentary .. take it with grain of salt.
- trelltron 10y ago
  This article is from 1999 though. It's probably wrong for 2016, but that's to be expected.
- LordFrith 10y ago
  > Ask who was behind it ? and you will get name , who funded cold-war, .. just the same b.s again .. I am pretty sure Ted Rall will agree with you that meddling from foreign empires, like the US, causes violence in Central Asia.
- LordFrith 10y ago
  Have you read Ted Rall's 2006 book Silk Road To Ruin? I'm interested enough in the opinion of a Central Asia local that I would mail you a copy.

temuze 10y ago

Great read. Thanks for sharing.