China’s Stranglehold on Pakistan’s Rare Earth Ambitions

1/18 China has executed a masterclass in economic leverage. Following Pakistan’s September 8th memorandum of understanding with US Strategic Metals, a $500 million arrangement to develop critical minerals in Balochistan, Beijing implemented sweeping export controls specifically targeting overseas rare earth producers utilizing Chinese extraction technologies and equipment. 2/18 The timing proved interesting, days after Pakistan shipped its initial rare earth consignment to the United States, China’s Commerce Ministry unveiled regulations requiring foreign entities to obtain Chinese government licenses before exporting products derived from Chinese mining, processing, or separation equipment.

The Corporate Colonization of Pakistan’s Farmland

1/9 THE INVISIBLE MACHINE
November 2024. Thousands of Pakistani farmers gathered in Lahore with a declaration the world chose to ignore: they would not surrender their fields. What these farmers understood and what remains invisible to most observers is that they face a coordinated apparatus involving the IMF, World Bank, WTO, multinational agribusiness, Gulf monarchies, Chinese state enterprises, Pakistan’s own military establishment, and domestic political dynasties.

This is not one nation’s administrative failure. It is a methodical transfer of wealth from the Global South to corporate entities, operating openly yet obscured by technical language and development discourse. Farmers recognize what policy analysts miss: the systematic elimination of protections enabling independent agriculture, and the transfer of land from those who cultivate it to those who extract profit from it. The pattern visible in Pakistan repeats across continents. Understanding the mechanism here illuminates its operation elsewhere. Nine posts follow, mapping the architecture of dispossession. 2/9 CONCENTRATED POWER

Four corporations command 66.5% of the global seed market: Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina, Limagrain. A decade ago, these firms held 47%. Seeds, pesticides, equipment, pharmaceuticals each sector now exhibits oligopoly characteristics, with four firms controlling over 40% of market share. The structure extends deeper. These agribusiness entities are substantially owned by investment firms: BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, Fidelity. A concentrated group of financial institutions thus influences the corporations controlling the seeds that determine what farmers plant and what populations consume.

Against this backdrop, 690 million people experience hunger while two billion lack consistent access to adequate nutrition. Simultaneously, Cargill and Unilever report record earnings. This is not malfunction but design a system optimized for value extraction rather than food provision. The machinery now operates in Pakistan with precision.

1/11 Why Your Electricity Bill Will Never Come Down: Pakistan's Rs 2 Trillion Scam

On September 25, 2025, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb signed what he called the "largest financing deal in Pakistan's history." While government officials and bank executives celebrated at the Prime Minister's House, every Pakistani family was quietly handed a bill for the next six years. The government signed a Rs 1.225 trillion loan agreement with 18 banks to address Pakistan's circular debt, which has grown to Rs 2.4 trillion, equivalent to 2.1% of the entire GDP. 2/11 What Actually Happened

Pakistan's circular debt has reached nearly Rs 2.4 trillion and has strained the energy supply chain while weakening investor confidence. The government owes this money to electricity companies for power already consumed but never paid for. Instead of finding ways to recover money from companies that overcharged or addressing the root causes, the government signed a deal to borrow Rs 1.225 trillion from banks, with repayments coming through the existing Rs 3.23 per unit debt service surcharge that consumers already pay.
The total cost to electricity consumers will be Rs 1.938 trillion over six years - the Rs 1.275 trillion loan plus Rs 663 billion in interest payments. This amounts to Rs 323 billion per year that will be collected directly from citizens through their electricity bills.

1/15 A Commonwealth Observer Group report on Pakistan’s February 2024 elections was buried for over a year after the military government requested its suppression. This marks the first such suppression in the organization’s 70-year history. The leaked document exposes systematic electoral fraud that reversed the clear verdict of Pakistani voters. 2/15 The Commonwealth deployed 13 international observers to Pakistan, led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Their confidential report, leaked to Drop Site News, accuses the government of violating “fundamental political rights, including freedom of association, assembly and expression.”

1/15 State Bank of Pakistan just issued its mid-year review claiming floods "may pose fresh challenges" to economic recovery. This language shows institutional blindness to what's happening across Pakistan's agricultural heartland. 2/15 SBP says agriculture has a "relatively contained share" in loan portfolios so banking sector soundness remains "immune" to flood damage. Tell that to the 4 million people affected nationwide, where over 1 million acres of cropland is underwater in Punjab alone.

Pakistan’s Surveillance State Details

1/12 New investigation reveals Pakistan operates one of the world’s most comprehensive surveillance systems outside China, monitoring millions of citizens using imported technology from Germany, France, UAE, China, Canada, and the US.

The system consists of two interconnected surveillance networks that work in tandem: LIMS monitors 4+ million phones simultaneously while WMS 2.0 blocks 2 million internet sessions at once. Both systems allow intelligence agencies to spy on citizens with virtually no oversight or transparency, creating what experts call a “digital panopticon.” 2/12 Pakistan’s surveillance operates through two core systems built with foreign technology:

PHONE TAPPING: Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses German Utimaco technology deployed through UAE-based Datafusion monitoring centers. ISI officers simply enter a phone number to access real-time calls, text messages, location data, and web browsing history.

INTERNET FIREWALL: Web Monitoring System 2.0 uses Chinese Geedge Networks technology - a commercialized version of China’s Great Firewall. Components include US Niagara Networks hardware and French Thales software with deep packet inspection capabilities that can monitor, throttle, or completely block internet traffic.

A brief Exclusive

1/6 Imran Khan Orders Purge of “Establishment’s Pawns” from PTI, Starting with AJK Chapter; Qayyum Niazi Under Scrutiny for Alleged Secret Meetings

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has ordered a major internal purge against party members accused of clandestine dealings with the powerful establishment, sources within the party’s top leadership confirmed on Thursday. The decision, described as a cleansing campaign, comes after a thorough review of what Khan perceives as a coordinated effort to undermine the party from within through covert contacts. The campaign is set to be launched initially from the party’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) chapter, with its President, Abdul Qayyum Niazi, squarely in the crosshairs. 2/6 The immediate trigger for the action was a detailed report on the activities of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi. The report allegedly contains evidence of two lengthy, secret meetings between Niazi and Faisal Naseer. The first meeting is said to have taken place at the White House in Muzaffarabad and lasted for three hours. A second, even longer meeting, spanning four hours, reportedly occurred in Islamabad approximately two months ago. Beyond the meetings, Niazi faces serious allegations of financial impropriety. He is accused of collecting substantial funds from overseas Kashmiris under the guise of party donations and for allocating party tickets for the previous AJK elections, but failing to deposit a significant portion into the official party fund. An investigation is underway into the continuous contacts between Niazi’s nephew and the Sector Commander in Muzaffarabad, suggesting a sustained backchannel of communication.

Pakistan just signed away control of Islamabad International Airport to the UAE, calling it economic reform. But the potential change in technology infrastructure should be of concern.🧵 1/14 On August 29, 2025, Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions approved transferring operational control of Islamabad International Airport to the UAE under a government-to-government framework. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting that made this decision, with officials from Defence, Finance, Law, and Privatisation ministries present.

1/13 Park View City in Lahore, owned by federal minister Aleem Khan through Vision Developers, has faced corruption allegations spanning over a decade. The project originated as River Edge Housing Society in 2004. 2/13 In 2010, Aleem’s company bought River Edge and renamed it Park View Villas. By 2012, Vision Developers requested LDA expansion beyond the approved 765 kanals into agricultural land and green areas but was rejected.

1/15 Pakistan’s rupee stands at PKR 283.61/USD, down 1.94% this year. This apparent stability conceals an expensive defence strategy masking serious structural risks. 2/15 The State Bank of Pakistan has withdrawn $7.2 billion from forex markets to support the rupee. No public explanation has been provided for this costly intervention.

1/10 Trump’s announcement of a US-Pakistan oil partnership should terrify Islamabad. History shows that nations claiming vast oil wealth rarely keep their sovereignty. Pakistan’s narrative of having the world’s 4th-largest reserves has transformed it from strategic ally to intervention target. 2/10 The American playbook is depressingly predictable: partnership rhetoric → “concerns” about governance → economic pressure → intervention. Iran 1953, Iraq 2003, Libya 2011, Venezuela today. The pattern never changes when oil is involved.

1/18 Pakistan Currency Crisis

Pakistan’s currency appears stable at 284 rupees per dollar, but forensic investigation reveals hidden vulnerabilities that mirror pre-crisis patterns in Sri Lanka (2022) and Thailand (1997). Key findings from analysing central bank data, IMF reports, and debt structures. 2/18 Research methodology: Cross-referenced State Bank of Pakistan balance sheets, IMF country reports, Chinese loan databases, and Gulf bilateral agreements. Analysed off-balance-sheet exposures through government guarantees, SOE debt structures, and energy sector obligations. Used Monte Carlo simulations comparing Pakistan’s metrics against 8 historical currency crises including Sri Lanka, Turkey, Argentina, and Thailand. All data sources publicly available and verifiable.

1/25 Pakistan’s sugar cartel based on the details obtained from the following sources. RS610 billion figure explained in post number 26.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, State Bank of Pakistan, Sugar Inquiry Commission 2020, Competition Commission Pakistan, World Bank, USDA, Dawn, Express Tribune, The News, Al Jazeera, Business Recorder. 2/25 International sugar price is Rs 104/kg. Pakistan retail price is Rs 180-210/kg. That’s an 88% markup over fair market price. Every single kilogram of sugar you buy has Rs 91 of pure cartel profit built into it. This price differential represents systematic theft from every Pakistani household, every single day.

1/15 The Biden administration dramatically escalated US rhetoric against Pakistan’s nuclear program in its final weeks. On Dec 19, 2024, Deputy NSA Jon Finer called Pakistan’s missile development an “emerging threat to the United States” - unusual language for a longtime ally. 2/15 The same day, Washington imposed sanctions on Pakistan’s National Development Complex, the state-run missile agency, plus three private companies. This marked the first time the US directly sanctioned Pakistan’s state-owned military infrastructure, crossing a red line.

1/11 Pakistan’s National Cyber-Crime Investigation Agency didn’t discover the Muzaffargarh child abuse ring. A U.S. hash-match alert from NCMEC led them to a gaming club where 50+ children aged 6-10 were exploited. Ten rescued in the May 23 raid. Videos sold for $100-500 each. 2/11 German mastermind Reinz Andreas entered Pakistan April 7, operated freely for weeks, then departed April 28, a full month before authorities raided. Two locals arrested, four suspects including Andreas escaped. No one put him on the Exit Control List.