Behind Pakistan leader Imran Khan’s smiles for the Beijing Winter Olympics, there’s a cap in his hand

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan arrives in Beijing on Thursday to adorn the Winter Olympics shunned by Western governments with his global cricketing superstar credentials and highlight his country’s special relationship with China.

Khan accused the West of double standards on human rights because it accused China of repressing Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang but turned a blind eye to violations in the Indian-administered half of disputed Kashmir.

“On one side they talk about Xinjiang, but on the other, there is this silence on [Indian-occupied Kashmir], which is deafening for us,” Khan said.

The prime minister said Pakistan’s ambassador to China had visited Xinjiang and found that the allegations against Beijing were “actually not true on the ground”.

The biggest of his woes is the state of Pakistan’s economy. While gross domestic product is forecast by the World Bank to grow by 3.4 per cent in the fiscal year which ends in June, Khan’s government is heavily dependent on international lenders – including closest allies China and Saudi Arabia – to settle its spiralling import bills and foreign debt payments, and finance its budgetary deficit.