Hunza Power Outage Protest: Pakistani Protesters Block Key China-Pakistan Trade Route

Pakistani protesters hold sit-in to block key China-Pakistan trade route in protest of power outage

Hunza Power Outage Protest: Thousands of Pakistanis staged a sit-in on Tuesday (January 7) for a fifth day to block a key trade route between Pakistan and China to protest against prolonged and frequent power cuts in the mountainous region.

Organizers of the sit-in in Hunza, a city of more than 70,000 people in the scenic Hunza Valley in northeastern Pakistan, insisted that the protest would continue until their demands were met. The protest leaders complained about the lack of electricity in Hunza, saying residents endured blackouts of up to 23 hours a day during the cold winter.

Protesters told Voice of America (VOA) by phone that there were both men and women among the protesters and that they had to endure temperatures as low as -4 degrees Celsius during the day and -10 degrees Celsius at night.

Rahim Aman, a Hunza resident, said the number of protesters had increased gradually and significantly, and some female protesters were seen using cars and loudspeakers to encourage people to join the demonstration. He noted that representatives of local political parties, merchants, and hotel associations were present to participate in the demonstration.

Local authorities have negotiated with protesters but have been unable to persuade them to disperse or to restore traffic on the Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan and China. Hunza is located on this scenic road in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which connects to Xinjiang in western China.

Traders reported that the sit-in had left many container trucks stranded with commercial supplies at both ends of the highway.

More than a month before the destructive demonstrations broke out, Pakistan and China announced that they would open the Khunjerab Pass, the only land crossing between China and Pakistan, all year round to promote trade between the two countries.

This world’s highest paved crossing is about 190 kilometers from Hunza, with an altitude of more than 4,600 meters. In the past, the crossing was closed for four months every year due to heavy snow blocking the road.

Hunza is located in the impoverished Gilgit-Baltistan region and is highly dependent on hydroelectric power. But power generation is largely unavailable in winter as rivers and lakes freeze over, so residents and businesses, including hotels, have to rely on their own costly thermal generators.

Residents and experts have noted that the expanded use of generators by large hotels and other businesses is affecting air quality in Hunza and surrounding areas.

A report released by the United Nations pointed out that Pakistan has the world’s largest glaciers outside the Arctic and is facing increasing threats from global warming.

The Khunjerab Pass is an integral part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion dollar corridor that seeks to establish a comprehensive trade and transportation infrastructure between the world’s second and fifth most populous countries.

China has invested more than $25 billion in Pakistan since the two countries began building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor a decade ago and is eager to use Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, which connects to the Arabian Sea, as a strategic gateway to expand China’s international market.