Written by: Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed
Posted on: May 20, 2021 | 
| 中文
The author receiving '5 Principles of Peaceful Coexistence' award from President Xi Jinping in April 2015
There is a popular Chinese saying that “A journey of 1000 miles begin with the first step”. The first step in Pakistan-China relations was taken with the establishment of diplomatic relations on May 21, 1951, 70 years ago. Since that period, this has been a journey of a unique relationship which has developed into a brotherly bond of all-weather friendship between “Iron Brothers” reinforced by mutuality of interests and common values.
Pakistan and China have stood by each other since the past five decades, and both countries protect and promote each other’s ‘core interests’.
What are China’s core interests? These can be summed up as:
Mohammad Ali of Bogra with the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai at the Bandung Conference in 1955
What are Pakistan’s core interests which China has always helped protect? These can be summed up as:
Today, CPEC is also an important pillar of the resilient and robust Pakistan-China relationship that is rightly considered unique as an “all-weather friendship” between the two neighbours. Mutuality of interests, absence of friction and a congruent worldview have influenced what is truly a unique relationship in the annals of international relations. However, CPEC is not just brick and mortar, it is also, as the Pakistan-China Institute gave the 3C vision for CPEC six years ago about “Corridors, Culture and Connectivity”. Today, 25,000 Pakistanis are learning Chinese language and 28,000 Pakistanis students are now studying in China. Contrary to the propaganda peddled by Western interests, the number of Chinese working on different projects in Pakistan is still quite modest. There are about 15000 Chinese experts, engineers and technicians working on CPEC projects in Pakistan. So far, $25 billion have been pumped in by China as investment in various CPEC projects in Pakistan, with about 75000 Pakistanis gainfully employed in these projects.
President Ayub Khan and Premier Zhou Enlai on the ltter's visit to Pakistan in 1964
As CPEC enters its second phase in 2021, what are the major challenges it faces? First, the systematic disinformation against CPEC, particularly the ‘debt trap’ theory, seeks to malign the BRI and undermine Pakistan-China relations. The United States has joined India in publicly opposing CPEC because of its broader geopolitical tussle with China. A recent article in the US magazine, ‘The Atlantic’, written by 2 American professors effectively demolished the arguments peddled by American officialdom. The article “The Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ is a Myth” written by Prof. Deboram Brautigam and Prof. Meg Rithmire, dated February 6, 2021, aptly put it that “the debt trap narrative is just that: a lie, and a powerful one.”
Secondly, there are concerns regarding security of CPEC projects and personnel given the volatile situation existing in certain parts of Pakistan like Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, due to the fall out of the Afghan conflict next door. A Special Security Division (SSD) of the Pakistan Army has been established which monitors the security of CPEC projects from Gwadar to Gilgit, ensuring these are fully protected and potential threats thwarted. In the wake of the exposure by the EU DisinfoLab of India’s sustained propaganda campaign against Pakistan, which is part of India’s hybrid war as documented in the Dossier on India’s state terrorism, issued by the Foreign Office last November. India is not just pumping in millions of dollars to malign CPEC and Pakistan-China Relations, but 87 RAW-organised training camps now exist, 66 in Afghanistan and 21 in India, to foment cross-border-terrorism to destabilise Pakistan.
Finally, there are challenges at the Pakistani end on how to take CPEC forward given bureaucratic red tape, a sluggish absence of coordination among government departments. An organised and sustained government media strategy and a comprehensive approach of promoting CPEC through political ownership in a transparent manner, is still missing.
Chairman Mao Zedong with Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974
The geopolitical scenario is rapidly changing. Despite the change of administration in the United States, there is no letup in the propaganda campaign against China and the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). In fact, a special anti-China bill has been tabled in the American Congress on April 15, 2021, which is being termed as “The Strategic Competition Act”. Under terms of this bill, which is still being discussed and debated, an annual allocation of $570 million will be made, basically for propaganda against China and to malign the BRI. In other words, this new law, if passed by the American Congress, would be a recipe for a new Cold War.
Hence, the centrality of Pakistan-China relations in the changing regional and global context, where mutual ties need to be reinforced. These ties are strengthened by the bond between the people of Pakistan and China. At the core of CPEC lies its centrality to the Pakistan-China strategic partnership which remains a unique and resilient friction-free relationship that has remained robust and strong for nearby 60 years. After the Indian annexation of Occupied Kashmir, and the ensuing India-China conflict, China is now a de facto party to the Kashmir dispute. US efforts to build up India as a counterweight to China have brought Pakistan-China closer together, given their mutuality of interests. In fact, the ‘China factor’ is the principal motivation in India’s U-turn on talking to Pakistan, which came after a military thrashing given by the People’s Liberation Army to the Indian Army in May 2020 and January 2021.
(L to R) Executive Director Pakistan-China Institute (PCI), Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Vice President of China, H.E. Wang Qishan and Chairman PCI, Mushahid Hussain Sayed at the second Friends of Silk Road Forum, 26 May 2019
Apart from CPEC, whether it is the Coronavirus pandemic, Pulwama Crisis, Modi’s annexation of Kashmir, FATF or taking Kashmir to the UN Security Council, it is China that has stood firm like a rock with Pakistan during these difficult moments. With CPEC as its core, this strong relationship was aptly summed up by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi: “No matter how things change in the world and the region, China will firmly support Pakistan in upholding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and dignity”.
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