China is a breath of fresh air
Nosheen Saeed
China celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with pomp and show displaying its phenomenal progress in national development with oozing national confidence. It certainly has much to celebrate! My visit to this great industrious country was a memorable experience that I shall cherish forever. On the invitation of her Chinese counterpart Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza led a delegation to China from the 21st to 27th April 2009. I had the honour of accompanying her. The visit programme included Beijing the political capital of China, X’ian the capital of China’s Shaanxi province, a cultural, industrial and educational center and Shanghai, the economic hub and industrial port of China.
The success of the tour lay in the wisdom of Speaker Dr. Fehmida Mirza who was keen to cover as many places of interest as possible and turned a deaf ear to our pleas of all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Our engagements stretched all day, one after the other. Apart from our scheduled meetings with Mr. Wo Bangoo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of NPC, Madame Chen Zhili, Vice Chairwoman of National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Huang Qingyi, Vice President and First Member of All-China Women’s Federation, Mr. Jia Quinglin, Chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Zhaq Dequan, Vice Chairman of Provincial People’s Congress, Huang Wei, Vice Chairperson of Shaanxi Province in Xian and Chairman of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress; the itinerary included touring Beijing National Stadium, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China a defense against invaders, City Wall in X’ian, the Museum of the Terra-cotta Warriors, a breathtaking cruise and cultural show; followed by enlightening trips to Yangling, an agricultural hi-tech zone, ZTE, the leading global provider of telecommunication equipment and network solutions, the largest Farm in China, Qinchuan water saving site, high-tech pharmaceutical enterprise and Yangling university. The delegates were enthused to follow their never tiring and enthusiastic leader Dr. Fehmida Mirza who the Chinese officials were delighted to receive as the first female Speaker of Pakistan and the Muslim world.
For the delegates the visit was not only a learning experience but a golden opportunity to interact with an important global player and the world’s largest rapidly developing country that has become a role model for not only developing nations but developed ones as well. To be a strong nation one needs a strong economy; less of politics and more of economics; less dependence on foreign aid and emphasis on generating internal wealth; capacity building in human, scientific, technological, organizational, institutional and resource capabilities and sustainable utilization of resources. That’s what China did! It mastered the art of turning its weakness into strength and challenges into opportunities. Being the largest population in the world, China turned its Achilles’ heel into its might and its economic encumber into a profitable boon, by utilizing its rich human resource (HRD) and its development, by equipping individuals with education, knowledge, skills, training and access to information, in all fields, from telecom to agricultural education. The Chinese government also gave local businesses carte blanche to assemble and expand their facilities which were able to employ the vastly unemployed. Today China has a gigantic workforce and has become the sole powerhouse for global manufacturing and industrial production. Today it is acknowledged the world over as a “manufacturing superpower.” While the West has gutted their manufacturing industries a bulk of consumer products are manufactured and exported to the world by China. China’s economy, once ranked eleventh on the globe has grown into the world’s third largest and its economic boom helped it to amass the largest reserves in the world, a staggering $US 2 trillion in foreign exchange. If world superpower status is closely connected to economic superiority China has already become the economic super power of the 21st century.
Curious to know how China measures up to the global economic slowdown, it was heartening to hear, recession spells opportunity, “We see more opportunities than challenges.” I couldn’t help admiring the competitive, goal-oriented, strong-willed and focused spirit of the nation. It wasn’t surprising to see China being the first major economy to recover from the global recession. China’s success cannot be attributed to its Open Door Policy or economic development alone; it is positively based on the reality that it not only believes in peace and harmony within China but peaceful and harmonious globalization. External aggression is very much against the common Chinese philosophy of peace, harmony, stability and economic prosperity.. China is respected globally because it nurtures no expansionist designs, respects sovereign equality of nations; believes in peaceful coexistence; doesn’t encroach on the territories of others; never intervenes in the internal affairs of other countries and as a regional power has provided continuous “all weather” friendship and support to its neighbours, without any strings attached.
China seeks equal partnership, mutually beneficial cooperation and sharing of tangible benefits in the region and attaches great importance to regional and international peace, stability, development and cooperation. In his message on the national day of China, H.E Lou Zhaohui, Ambassador to Pakistan aptly stated, “We firmly pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and a win-win strategy of opening-up. We share development opportunities with other countries and work with them to meet challenges and build a harmonious world of durable peace and common prosperity.”
In 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao described Beijing’s relations with Pakistan as being “higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the Indian Ocean and sweeter than honey.” On another occasion he called Pakistan and China good neighbours, close friends, dear brothers and trusted partners. Truer words were never spoken! The warmth and affection showered upon us was unprecedented; one immediately felt at home, among brothers and close friends. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the delegation was accorded the “red carpet” treatment. The delegates were exempted from airport security checks and allowed to enter and exit without any hassle. Dr. Fehmida Mirza’s request for enhancement of parliamentary contacts, collaboration among women legislators, cooperation in areas related to women development and Mother & Child Healthcare programmes, formation of a joint Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs, alliance between the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus and ACWF, learning exchange programmes among the clerks of the two parliaments, a review of the existing projects in the telecom, agricultural, hydro-power, energy areas, enhancing Students’ Exchange Programme and scholarships, promotion of people-to-people contacts through education, culture and sports, boosting of economic and commercial ties at all levels, taking the present US$7Billion trade to a mutually balanced position, setting up of trans-boarder economic zones, construction of an Engineering University in Pakistan, human resource training in various professional areas, assistance and vocational training in agro-based industries like animal husbandry, citrus plants, food preservation and conservation, direct air links between Lahore and Xian, revival of sick IT units in Pakistan like TIP etc were received with an encouraging response.
They say one who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure. Pakistan found one “all-weather” “time tested and true” “traditional ally” decades ago. It now needs to further expand collaboration in multi-dimensional sectors and upgrade Sino-Pak strategic partnership, comradeship and neighbourly common concerns to an even higher level. Pakistan’s future lies in continuous alignment with China.
See : http://www.pakobserver.net/200910/10/Articles01.asp