BEIJING: Pakistan is the closest political, cultural, military and economic ally of China and the all-weather friendship between the two countries is a model for other countries, said eminent Chinese scholar and Director of Tsinghua Pakistan Culture and Communication Center Prof Li Xi Guang in an interview to APP on Sunday.
Prof Li, who led an expedition of 20 students from Kashgar to Islamabad via Gilgit in 2015, opined that cultural corridor was more important than the economic corridor and both the countries must work on spiritual and physical aspects in their cooperation. “Both the countries, with their cultural corridor, can present a model of shared tradition, history and values to the entire world,” he said.
The Chinese scholar pointed out that many things were common among the people of two countries. “We are working to introduce a common food acceptable for Muslims and Chinese working along the route. I and my research team are writing a book about the unity of civilizations against the clash of civilizations,” he said.
Criticizing the Western media for always talking about clash of civilizations, he said, “Actually they are worried about the unity of Islam and Confucianism. The Western media looks at Islam in terms of violence and terrorism by portraying its negative image. But this is not the truth.”
Reposing complete confidence into the measures taken by the Pakistan government for the security of Chinese working on various development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in different parts of Pakistan, he said not a single Chinese citizen working in any CPEC project has been killed so far. He said that the two Chinese citizens killed in Quetta by terrorists last year were working for a South Korean Christian missionary organisation. He remarked that robberies, burglaries and murders take place everywhere in the world and pointed out that more Chinese are killed in the US every year than Pakistan. He also lamented the Indian media for spreading rumours about the security of Chinese citizens, particularly in Balochistan province.
Responding to a question regarding progress on the projects being completed under the CPEC framework, he expressed his satisfaction and said that Pakistan and its people were lucky to have a friend like China. He said a number of power stations were already complete resulting in considerable decrease in electricity load shedding. He, however, said that media needed to highlight the progress on the CPEC projects in a more positive and appropriate way.
On the equal distribution of Chinese economic support, he said that it could not be divided equally like a piece of birthday cake. Rather, projects were prioritized in accordance with the requirement of different areas.
While commenting on China’s mediatory role it recently played to resolve different regional conflicts, he said that while addressing Pakistan’s parliament during his visit in 2015 Chinese President Xi Jinping had suggested using Asian values to find a solution of the Asian problems. He said that China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan were neighbouring countries and the three Asian countries jointly could find a solution of Afghan issue and bring about lasting peace and stability in the war-torn country.
He said that the US and its 50 allies poured billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of troops into Afghanistan in the name of fighting terrorism but still the country was the largest shelter of terrorists including the IS. “It is a total failure of the American governance in Afghanistan. The current situation in Afghanistan reflects a total failure of the US-led World Order,” he added. In his remarks on the NPC and CPPCC sessions, he said that the Chinese political system was different from western style political system.
Published in Daily Times, March 19th 2018.
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