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China scientist defies terror threats to help Pakistan farmers boost rice yields

  • Dai tells the Post about the personal interactions that make the challenges of his work in Pakistan’s rural areas worthwhile

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Dai, a Chinese agricultural expert, has been travelling through Pakistan’s countryside for years promoting the benefits of hybrid rice and his pictures of rural life have won him more than 700,000 fans on social media. Photo: Douyin/Dai
Zhang Tongin Beijing
As Chinese agricultural expert Dai travels through Pakistan promoting the benefits of high-yield hybrid rice varieties, he often finds himself these days under the vigilant protection of security guards carrying AK-47s.

Dai, who asked to be identified only by his surname, has attracted more than 700,000 fans to his account on Douyin – the Chinese version of TikTok – with his posts of life in rural Pakistan over the years. Occasionally, they include local police standing armed and watchful in the rice fields while he works.

Pakistan is China’s only “all-weather strategic cooperative partner” and plays a pivotal role in Beijing’s massive Belt and Road Initiative, but Chinese scientists and other workers have been increasingly under attack from militant groups.
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In March this year, five Chinese engineers and a local driver died when a terrorist drove a truck loaded with explosives into a convoy of workers at the Dasu hydropower station in the country’s north.

Dai, who has been based in Pakistan since graduating from Hunan Agricultural University in 2017, said the situation had noticeably worsened since 2021, when the ceasefire agreement ended between the Pakistani Taliban and the government.

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As the world’s fifth most populous nation with a vast traditional agricultural base, Pakistan is a focal point for China’s push to improve bilateral agricultural cooperation, particularly through the promotion of hybrid rice.

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