On November 21, Ambassador Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, delivered an address at the Wilson Center on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that was strikingly sharp and direct in its criticism of a sensitive and high-stakes project for both Beijing and Islamabad.

Both capitals rejected the speech's criticism and reasserted their commitment to CPEC.

What might have motivated Ambassador Wells' speech? Was its criticism warranted, and what impact might it have on CPEC? What is the status of CPEC and what might be coming next?

These questions and more are discussed in the latest edition of The AfPak File with Hassan Akbar, director of programs at the Jinnah Institute; Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center; Andrew Small, senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund's Asia Program and author of the book The China-Pakistan Axis; and Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center.

RFE/RL's Media Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderated the discussion.

This podcast originally appeared on RFE/RL.