Sweet China, dont leave us

By Asad Rahim Khan

Published: September 9, 2014
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The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and studied law at Lincolns Inn and the London School of Economics. He tweets
@AsadRahim
Pakistanis dont agree on much. They disagree over literature, they disagree over dress, and
theyre prone to kill over Misbahul Haq. Some still believe cars run on water, while ink has flown
in these very pages over how Ms Ayesha Omar didnt deserve Album of the Year at the Lux
Style Awards. Yes, Pakistanis cant seem to agree on anything.
But they agree on China.
Besides the Bomb, theres nothing more popular in the Islamic Republic than the Peoples
Republic next door. With Pew poll ratings that hover in the 90s (and never dip below 80), the
euphoria we feel for China is at sweaty-palm levels. Chinas state press, meanwhile, continues to
carry tales of joy towards the men and women next door.
The trend isnt recent. The last official photograph of Mao Zedong is testament: Chairman Maos
hands clasping Chairman Bhuttos the Great Helmsman banned photo-ops soon after. And it
has weathered many storms since: When it comes to Pakistan, the first word that comes to the
mind of Chinese is iron brother, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said. (Our relationship) has
withstood the test of wind and rain.

Its the language of love, and as with most Asian nations, the similes flow freely. Our officials go
on sober record, only to describe their romance as deeper than oceans, dearer than eyesight, and
a recent favourite sweeter than honey. A love that could only blossom, perhaps, between
two confirmed eccentrics: one as complex as China, the other as complicated as Pakistan.
On paper, this mutual fondness makes no sense. Theres no common language. Theres no
overlap in religion. The culture is diverse, dense, and difficult to understand in either place. As to
governance, the Communist Party is still the sun, the moon, and the solar system, while our
Parliament has never been noisier (though PM Nawaz is often tempted by the Chinese model).
And though this bond runs deep, its certainly not old. Both countries boast ancient civilisations,
but the nation-states are newborns Chairman Mao warred his way to Beijing just two years
after Mr Jinnah won the case for Pakistan.
These two gents define our differences: China owns the ideals of the man from Hunan, i.e.,
single-party socialism, while Pakistan claims the parliamentary traditions of Bombays finest
barrister. Both gardens have been defiled, by market forces and military coups (and only the
formers met with success).
Yet this love works. It forgets conflicting creeds: Pakistan was the first Muslim country to
recognise Red China. It forgives lapses of judgment: China let go of Pakistans flings with
SEATO and CENTO. Both are notorious as neighbours: Chinas fistfought with everyone from
Russia to Japan (and Pakistan with everyone but China).
But like nauseated relatives, others are less enthused. Snarky Washington think-tanks produce a
report a year on how the warmth is waning: how China is growing too distant to be interested,
how Pakistan is growing too dangerous to be useful. Even at its sunniest, Sino-Pak bonhomie
irritates the West.
Part of this is projection, the bad sort. For too long, Pakistan-China has been painted as a
friendship of the Chanakyan kind: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Its a set of interests that
frustrates other interests, American or Indian or Russian. And it does so via creepy means:
nuclear dealings, defence supplies, arms and ammunition. This image must change.
Just the phrase Pakistan is our Israel, Beijings supposed response to American diplomats tut-
tutting ties with Islamabad, was trotted around everywhere in foreign policy journals, if never
substantiated. Our local neocons did get a kick out of it, but the irony of the comparison a
hostile state-fuelled by the grace of a massive military machine was lost on everyone. And
besides, better relations with India can only better Pakistan.
Because beneath it all, Pakistan and China dont require drawing close to offend others: they
manage to do that all on their own. While the degree of depth is debated (our lefties say they need
us less, their righties say they need us more), whats clear is that Pakistan and China need each
other, for each other.
This brotherhood is based on benefit: unlike Islamabad and its adhoc ways, the Chinese view the
world in decades and it was a lifetime ago that Pakistan brought the sweaty, sweary Richard
Nixon to Chinese shores. Todays China thinks in economic terms, and sating its energy
demands. Islamabad, for its part, gains technology and know-how: trade with Beijing makes for
the self-reliance it craves.
At the centre of it all lies Gwadar; a fount of potential for Pakistan, and a go-to trade corridor for
China.
Which is why this is one relationship the country cant afford to scuff up making last weeks
events doubly distressing. Though the Chinese remind us our relationship is beyond presidential
postponements, the times are growing trickier.
First, policy: A nuclear state with war within and three angry neighbours without has no foreign
minister. While Messrs Imran and Qadri are the ones responsible for the raincheck,President Xis
postponement was admitted, denied, and then admitted. Our Foreign Office is excellent our
executive is not. Making appointments may be Kryptonite to the PML-N, but its high time they
do.
Second: Economics. The balance of trade is tilted in Beijings favour, a hard fact that requires
redressal Pakistan talks of increasing exportables, but does little about it. Besides building
underpasses and overpasses in a half of Lahore, the state may want to reconsider our wider
malaise.
Third: Terror. Pakistan is moving in the right direction in its assessment of the East Turkestan
Islamic Movement (ETIM), a band of Uighurs hiding in Waziristan but blowing up things in
Xinjiang. In targeting ETIM, Operation Zarb-e-Azab seems well aware of mutual enemies. But,
as with the safety of Chinese nationals working in the country, theres a long way to go.
In another forest analogy, Premier Li said last year, the tree of China-Pakistan friendship () is
now exuberant with abundant fruits. Whatever that mean