Iam Guo Xuetang from the Research Center of South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, based at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics in China. Recently, I spoke at the China-Pakistan Relations Dialogue, hosted by the Chinese Consul General in Karachi. In February 2018, I had the privilege of attending an international conference organized in Karachi by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. The conference theme was “Business Education Creating Impacts with CPEC.” It was my first time in Karachi, and I still remember the conference well, including the plans and information.
In more than 60 years, China and Pakistan have made tremendous progress in jointly promoting the construction of the CPEC projects.
The two countries have always been good friends, good neighbors, and good partners, and they are officially well-known as all-weather strategic partners for cooperation. At the same time, China and Pakistan face enormous challenges in terms of relations. Firstly, the international situation in the 2020s has been changing comprehensively and profoundly, and will continue in the 2030s.
The United States is adjusting its strategies in the Middle East, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific to maintain its hegemony, bringing more military conflicts, wars, and greater power competition. Secondly, there is also a phenomenon of power imbalance in the South Asian region. China and Pakistan need to maintain regional stability and joint development in this region.
Thirdly, terrorism and external forces are trying to undermine mutual trust and cooperation between China and Pakistan. However, China’s determination to continue supporting Pakistan’s economic and social development and improving people’s livelihoods has not changed, and so has the unbreakable friendship between the two nations. The will to promote China-Pakistan comprehensive cooperation has not changed.
First, China’s path to modernization studies in the 1980s developed in the first decades of this century and has formed a relatively mature set of Chinese appearances. For example, development is the fundamental principle, the key to resolving all problems China has been facing, such as social instability, poverty, environmental pollution, etc. China needs a peaceful, stable international environment and a good neighborhood environment to achieve this overall goal.
Therefore, China adheres to two major foreign relations policies. One is to insist on opening up to all countries to attract foreign investments and technology. Another is to insist on friendly neighborhood diplomacy to maintain good relations with all neighboring countries, which has provided a fundamental development opportunity for the Chinese economy.
At the same time, Chinese society continues to be stable, people’s happiness index continues to increase, and national pride and identity continue to strengthen. This is the right approach to Chinese modernization. I hope it might help my Pakistani friend understand how Chinese modernization has worked in the past 40 years.
Secondly, with the development of China’s path to modernization, China’s national strength has also been greatly enhanced, and China can play a constructive role in international and regional affairs. For example, in the political revolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Middle East crisis, and the war between Ukraine and Russia, China is proactively speaking out on behalf of many countries in the global south and developing countries. China has always pursued an independent foreign policy.
Based in Shanghai, China, the writer is associated with the South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, China.
Leave a Reply