China says Gwadar protests deliberately played up by media outlets

ISLAMABAD: A Chinese foreign ministry official said on Tuesday some media outlets had launched a smear campaign against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by playing up protests in Gwadar, reported Pakistan's APP state-owned news agency.
Gwadar is at the heart of the multibillion-dollar economic corridor project that aims to provide China a shorter, more secure trade route, via Pakistan, to the Middle East and beyond, while also boosting Pakistan’s economy.
Despite its strategic significance, the residents of the area have been demanding basic rights and action against illegal trawling in the Arabian Sea which they say has rendered local fisherfolk and others jobless.
The issue has also been reported by the international media.
"China firmly rejects certain media's attempts to smear the CPEC building and China-Pakistan relations," the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, Zhao Lijian, was quoted as saying by the APP agency. "This is completely fake news. Certain media's hyping up of the protests against China in Gwadar region lacks factual basis."
The APP report said Lijian denied the presence of any Chinese trawlers near Gwadar, adding that CPEC was not only focusing on development work but also trying to contribute to the livelihood of people.
Gwadar is located in Pakistan's sparsely populated southwestern Balochistan province where a large number of people are associated with the fishing business.