BEIJING: Pakistan is the closest political, cultural, military and economically of China and the all weathers friendship between the two countries wasa unique model for other countries to learn.
This was stated by eminent Chinese scholar and Executive Dean of TsinghuaSchool of Journalism and Director of Tsinghua Pakistan Culture andCommunication Center, Prof. Li Xi Guang in an exclusive interview with APPhere on Sunday.
“Both the countries, with their cultural corridor, can present a model ofour shared tradition, history and values to the entire world,” he added.
Prof Li, who led an expedition of 20 students from Kashgar to Islamabad viaGilgit in 2015, opined that cultural corridor was more important than theeconomic corridor and both the countries must work on spiritual andphysical aspects during their cooperation.
He commented that if a mind was filled with only money and big houses thenthe greed would grow bigger. Hence, spirituality was equally importantwhich was essential for the peace of mind.
The Chinese scholar pointed out that many things were common among thepeople of the two countries, adding, “We are working to introduce a commonfood acceptable for Muslims and Chinese working along the route. I and myresearch team are writing a book about the unity of civilizations againstthe clash of civilizations.”
Criticizing the Western media for always talking about the clash of thecivilizations, he said, actually, it was worried about the unity of Islamand Confucianism.
“The Western media looks at Islam in terms of violence and terrorism byportraying its negative image. But this is not the truth,” he added.
Reposing complete confidence into the measures taken by the Pakistangovernment for the security of Chinese working on various developmentprojects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in differentparts of Pakistan, he said, not a single Chinese citizen working in anyCPEC project was killed.
He said that the two Chinese citizens killed in Quetta by terrorists lastyear were working for a South Korean Christian missionary organization.
He remarked that robberies, burglaries, and murders could take placeeverywhere in the world and pointed out that more Chinese were killed inthe USA every year than Pakistan.
Prof. Li also lamented the Indian media for spreading rumours about thesecurity of Chinese citizens, particularly in Balochistan province.
Responding to a question regarding progress on the projects being completedunder CPEC framework, he expressed his complete satisfaction and said thatPakistan and its people were lucky to have a friend like China.
He said that when China started its reconstruction in 1949, it was a verydifficult time of the country as China was forced to send the army to jointhe Korean War in 1950 because the American invasion army came to Chineseborder and bombed China.
As a result, the reconstruction process was delayed for three years. But inPakistan, a number of power stations were completed taking the country outof electricity load-shedding and it had put positive impacts on the dailylife of the people.
He, however, said that media needed to highlight the progress on the CPECprojects in a more positive and appropriate way.
Prof. Li opined that infrastructure projects need good planning from thetop and continuity of policies.
On the equal distribution of the Chinese economic support, he said that itcould not be divided equally like a piece of birthday cake. Rather,projects were prioritized in accordance with the requirement of differentareas.
While commenting on China’s mediatory role it recently played to resolvedifferent regional conflicts, he said that while addressing Pakistan’sParliament during his visit in 2014 Chinese President Xi Jinping hadsuggested using Asian values to find a solution of the Asian problems.
He said that China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan were neighbouring countriesand the three Asian countries jointly could find a solution of Afghan issueand bring about lasting peace and stability in the war-torn country.
The renowned scholar said that the US troops were in Afghanistan for around17 years for building the new Afghanistan. But, Afghanistan has one of theworst illiteracy rate, life expectancy, and unemployment. – APP