China's Balochistan Problem

China's push to materialize its “One Belt, One Road” dream in South Asia demands empirical study of the political role Beijing envisages in the region, especially in Pakistan. China's western neighbor, Pakistan, was one of the the first countries where China began its OBOR project, under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a series of projects that stands to connect the Asian giant to Central Asia and Europe in the long run. CPEC will connect China's largest province, Xinjiang, with Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan, the largest and most impoverished province of Pakistan. Balochistan has been under attack by separatists, insurgents, and Islamic militants – now including the Islamic State (ISIS) – for over a decade.