Governor of Chang'an Street, WeChat*** reporter Liu Xiaoyan.
When searching for news about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, one often finds a stark contrast: the data released by the China-Pakistan and the China-Pakistan agencies clearly show that China and Pakistan achieve a win-win situation through cooperation, while the West has almost all negative evaluations, claiming that Pakistan hailed the victory of the "Belt and Road" "prematurely", or "Pakistan's blind trust in China", hyping up the so-called "security concerns" and "payment disputes".
On December 7, Mushahid Hussein Said, Chairman of the National Defense Committee of the Senate of Pakistan, Co-Chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties and President of the Pakistan-China Society, was interviewed by the Governor of Chang'an Street (WeChat ID: Capitalnews) during the "3rd China (Yiwu) Belt and Road Cities International Forum 2023" hosted by the Chinese People's Diplomacy Society, the Chinese People's University and the People** of Yiwu City.
Mushahid Hussein Saeed said that anything related to China will be labeled as a "trap" or "used by China" by the West. At the end of the day, the West wants to draw a chasm between Pakistan and China, and they don't want any country to get close to China, but they miscalculated. The West criticizes the Belt and Road Initiative and wants to replicate it, which is hypocrisy.
He said that in the future, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will also promote industrial cooperation and economic transformation, which will be high-tech and high-quality development. We welcome China's peaceful rise, it's as simple as that.
On December 8, Mushahid Hussein Saeed delivered a speech.
Hard connection, soft connection, but also heart connection.
Governor: The Belt and Road Initiative revolves around connectivity, with "hard connectivity" of infrastructure as an important direction, "soft connectivity" of rules and standards as an important support, and "heart-to-heart connectivity" of the people of the country as an important foundation. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the 10th year of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Mushahid Hussein Said: The unique relationship between Pakistan and China in the past few decades is unique in modern international relations, we call it all-weather friendship, no matter how the international and regional situation changes, China-Pakistan friendship will always remain strong and strong, this is the meaning of the strategic partnership, and it is also the meaning of the Chinese people who regard us as "Pakistan Railway".
Over the past decade, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has served as the flagship, fulcrum and pilot of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has invested US$26 billion in "hard connectivity" such as highways, ports and energy, the Gwadar port has been built, and Pakistan has added nearly 600 kilometers of highways, 8,000 megawatts of power generation capacity and nearly 900 kilometers of national core transmission grid.
Gwadar port infographic. Source: vcg
On the "soft connectivity", the CPEC has launched a joint cooperation committee and established joint working groups in various fields to develop rules, standards and regulations within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a global best practice. For example, China's coal-fired power station in Pakistan uses special coal-fired power technology to help improve the local ecology. "Soft connectivity" has improved the efficiency of connectivity and brought advanced technology and quality to Pakistan.
In addition, Pakistan and China have created an institutionalized mechanism for joint consultation and cooperation, and set up three different mechanisms, namely the Joint Committee, which is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Planning and Development of Pakistan and China, and holds regular meetings to discuss the progress of the projectThis is followed by the Joint Working Group on Industrial Cooperation (JWG), which discusses specific cooperation, such as energy, international cooperation, railways, culture, agriculture, education, science and technologyThe third is bilateral political consultations at the level of the foreign ministers of the two countries. Based on the above mechanism, China and Pakistan have formed a very transparent and active form of bilateral decision-making, which is the key to the concept of "extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits".
As for the "Heart-to-Heart Connection" you mentioned, you were talking to someone who has been working in China for more than 50 years and is committed to promoting exchanges between China and Pakistan. I myself am a representative of the "heart-to-heart connection" between China and Pakistan. Later, I organized a 13-member "Beijing Radio Listeners Club" and came to China for the first time at the invitation of the Chinese Society for People's Diplomacy. Since then, I have visited China more than 100 times in the past 50 years.
The relationship between China and Pakistan is very strong, with close political, diplomatic, and military ties, and at the same time, it is also very important to enhance the ties between youth, women, and academia. Sixteen years ago, I founded the Pakistan-China Society. Ten years ago, I also founded the magazine "Friendly Neighbors", which is the first Sino-Pakistani co-founded publication, which is printed in both Chinese and English and published simultaneously in Pakistan and China.
Last year, Pakistan also held an essay contest entitled "Why do Pakistanis like China?".In the end, about 8,000 entries were received, and the five authors of the best works were able to visit China. On December 20, we will also hold the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Forum in Islamabad, where friends from China and Pakistan will come together.
As Chairman *** said at the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on October 18, the core of the Belt and Road Initiative is people-to-people exchanges. 2.80,000 Pakistani students are studying Xi in China, and the third film co-produced by China and Pakistan will be released in three months, telling the story of the young people of the two countries, which is a very interesting exchange.
A still from the feature film "Pakistani Girl", co-produced by China and Pakistan.
Governor: According to the Yiwu Bureau of Commerce, in 2022, Yiwu will import and export 71 to Pakistan100 million yuan, an increase of 88% year-on-year, and the number of Pakistani businessmen in Yiwu has already exceeded 1,000. Why did Pakistani businessmen choose Yiwu?
Mushahid Hussein Saeed: Yiwu is very special, this city is open and tolerant, and it is a good friend in business. I'm not talking about the big investors or the millionaires, but the small commodity operators who have gone out of China, and they are very sincere in making us discover this great place in Yiwu. The market here represents a bazaar culture, with a wide variety of bargain goods, which we Pakistanis call "bazaars", so we came.
As far as I know, there are currently about 20,000 resident foreigners, of which about 1,000 are from Pakistan. Every year, 600,000 international friends come to Yiwu, and about 4,000 foreigners visit Yiwu International Trade City every day. Therefore, Yiwu is a symbol of globalization and the "Belt and Road" connection, and it is very important that it is fully prepared for opening up and there is no bureaucratic bottleneck.
Yiwu railway port. Photo: Liu Xiaoyan.
3D means "miscalculated."
Governor: When I check the news about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) recently, I often find a stark contrast, that is, the data released by the Chinese and Pakistani agencies clearly shows that China and Pakistan achieve a win-win situation through cooperation, while the West ** is almost all negative, claiming that Pakistan is "premature" to hail the victory of the "Belt and Road", or "Pakistan blindly trusts China" and hypes up the so-called "security concerns" and "payment disputes". What do you think of this contrast?
Mushahid Hussein Said: I speak as a person who has studied and lived at Georgetown University in the western United States for four years, whether it is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, or the development of the "Belt and Road", the West can be involved in China for its propaganda purposes. The United States, in particular, regards China as a "threat" and must cooperate in slandering China. I call it "3D tactics", that is, they want to demonize China, they want to damage China, and especially they want to destabilize China.
Therefore, anything related to China will be labeled as a "trap" or "used by China" by the West. They are not based on facts, but on opinions, based on lies. At the end of the day, the West wants to sow discord and draw a chasm between Pakistan and China, and they don't want any country to get close to China.
But they miscalculated. Pakistan is China's closest friend, according to data released by the Pew Research Center, a polling agency in the United States, 85% of Pakistanis have a favorable opinion of China, and China is the most popular country in Pakistan.
On June 17, the China-Pakistan Friendship Park was built by the Karachi Metropolitan Company. Source: vcg
This is the "Asian Century".
Governor: Pakistan is China's only all-weather strategic cooperative partner, what is your outlook for the future of China-Pakistan relations?
Mushahid Hussein Said: In the future, CPEC will also promote industrial cooperation and economic transformation, including Pakistan's undertaking of China's industrial relocation, and deepening cooperation between the two sides in agriculture, IT, education and other fields, which will be high-tech and high-quality development.
The bilateral relationship between China and Pakistan for more than 70 years is based on common interests and values, and China-Pakistan relations are not technical, temporary, or transactional. China, unlike the West, always keeps its promises when it makes them. China's worldview is a community with a shared future for mankind and the overall interests, while the West's worldview is a security narrative and military dominance. We don't need the latter, we don't want a "cold war", and we don't want to contain China. What we want is closer cooperation and more connectivity, not conflict and confrontation.
The United States and Western countries have proposed many infrastructure initiatives that mimic the "One Belt, One Road" model, such as "Build Back Better World" (B3W), which was renamed the "Global Infrastructure Partnership" (PGI) a year later, and then the European Union launched the "Global Gateway", the latest plan is the "India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor" (IMEC) proposed in September this year, but slowly there is no movement. The West criticizes the Belt and Road Initiative and wants to replicate it, which is hypocrisy.
The problem is **?This is due to the lack of China's efficient governance system and sincerity to keep its promises. When China says it's going to do, it will do it. The Belt and Road Initiative has a 10-year history, and all the commitments have been fulfilled.
Compared with the United States and the West, China represents reliability and talks about modernizationThe United States, on the other hand, is talking about militarization, the new unipolarity in international politics. These are two different values and worldviews. This is crucial for the countries of the "Global South" and is why China is popular in the "Global South".
For us, the global center of gravity is shifting from the West to the East, and that's the Asian Century. We welcome China's peaceful rise, it's as simple as that.