China Marches on while Pakistan Stands Still
The exchange of visits by the top leadership of China and Pakistan has now become routine between the two friendly countries. Just a few weeks ago Asif Ali Zardari visited Beijing, the exact nature of his business remains unknown, and at the time of this writing the Prime Minister of China Wen Jiabao was visiting Islamabad ostensibly to further trade relations.
Partly in jest, probably, some reports have noted that Zardari visits Beijing so often that he might as well stay there. Chinese leaders too seem to pop up frequently in Pakistan, no doubt to solidify their ongoing investment in the region.
For China the strategic relationship with Pakistan has become very important given that India, with huge population, is rapidly moving ahead on all fronts. As for Pakistan, it is floundering and needs to be prodded by outsiders to take a step forward.
There is considerable concern among the Chinese leadership that the United States may pry away Pakistan. China also fears that US may linger on for years in the region and become established both in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan.
President Obama in his recent report indicated that American strategy is succeeding in Afghanistan. However, critics argue that billions of dollars have been squandered in that country over the course of ten years and there is still no end in sight. Insiders in Washington believe that at some point the administration might make a deal with Taliban for an exit strategy.
In the course of the three-day visit the leadership of the two countries, China and Pakistan, signed several agreements. These revolved around trade issues with Pakistan, importing mostly cheap manufactured goods and exporting natural resources. Of course, there is also the agreement on Chinese investment in the building of nuclear facilities, the improvement of the Karakoram Highway, and the joint manufacture of weapons for military needs.
The highway through Pakistan figures prominently in the geo-strategic picture making it possible to trans-ship products and commodities through Pakistan to the western region of China. In its long-term goals that would be enormously helpful to China to rapidly develop the western sector of the nation that has been neglected.
When I visited the cities of Kashgar, Aksu, Hotan and others several years ago, their conditions were much like medieval towns with horses pulling carts as the main means of transportation. The scenes could have been from the days when the sons and grandsons of Genghiz Khan roamed freely in that region and, of course, their descendants eventually spilled over into India.
China sees Pakistan as a convenient short-cut for goods from the Middle East saving enormous sums in land transport and oceanic costs. The Chinese interest in the port of Gwadar is due precisely for that strategic reason. Quiet likely, China will outflank India in pincer-like connections with Indonesia and Malaysia on one side and with Pakistan on the other. As long as Pakistan is stable the Chinese route to the Middle East is likely to be secure.
When Pakistan became an independent nation in 1947 China was involved in a bloody civil war against American-supported nationalist forces. The Red Army emerged victorious only in 1949. At that time Pakistan was ahead of China in levels of literacy, agricultural production and economic development.
Half a century later, Pakistan has become a beggar nation while China has emerged as a major industrial power. As an economic juggernaut, now second only to the United States in GDP, it is likely to climb up to the top-most position around 2050, the mid-century.
For the past half a century China followed a path of industrialization, education and reorganization of the society. Today, its literacy rate is over 90 percent, per capita GDP at $9800, and it is the largest producer of consumer goods. As for Pakistan its literacy rate is around 50 percent, per capita income around $970, and it stands at the bottom twenty percent of all the countries in socio-economic achievements.
China , shortly after its revolution, rounded up all the feudal lords and had them systematically shot. In Pakistan, on the other hand, the feudal lords emerged to the top, ruling the country for the purpose of robbing it. Chinese leaders have degrees in engineering or economics from reputable universities, most at the master’s level. At the very top, both the President and the Prime Minister of the country have doctorates in one of the two fields mentioned above. As for Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari is said to be barely literate, with no schooling beyond the high school. And the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani, no one is sure of his diploma, whether it is genuine or fake.
One can see right away why one country is galloping ahead and the other is standing still.
