China lavishes aid on Pakistan town in bid to extend maritime reach

Gwadar, Pakistan

CHINA is lavishing vast amounts of aid on a small Pakistani fishing town to win over locals and build a commercial deep-water port that the United States and India suspect may also one day serve the Chinese navy.

Beijing has built a school, sent doctors and pledged about US$500 million in grants for an airport, hospital, college and badly-needed water infrastructure for Gwadar, a dusty town overlooking some of the world's busiest oil and gas shipping lanes.

The grants include US$230 million for a new international airport, one of the largest such disbursements China has made abroad, according to researchers and Pakistani officials.

The handouts for the Gwadar project is a departure from Beijing's usual approach in other countries. China has traditionally derided Western-style aid in favour of infrastructure projects for which it normally provides loans through Chines…