On the occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China, Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated support to the brotherly country’s efforts to safeguard world peace, contribute to global development and preserve international order Imran Khan is spot on when he maintains that President Xi Jinping’s vision of shared prosperity through the Belt and Road Initiative had made a major impact on global sustainable development and proved President Xi’s credentials as a world statesman.
He has also noted the fact that China has eliminated extreme poverty, which is one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. One would also agree with him that Pakistan and China have close relations and support each other on issues of respective core interests. Further, in an era of complex and profound changes at the global and regional level, the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between China and Pakistan remains a strong anchor for peace, progress and prosperity.
That being said, one would wish the PM abstains from alternately following the models of Malaysia, Turkey and China without realising the peculiarities that led these countries to evolve their particular systems.
China’s road to remarkable achievement is based on socialism. Among the first steps taken during the revolution in China was land reforms which ended the centuries-old hold of big landlords who exploited the tenants, maintained primitive methods of farming that frequently led to famines and promoted warlordism. Socialist China initially went for state-controlled industrialization and allowed the private sector a role only after decades. A significant sector of industry in China still remains under state control. Despite there being eight other parties in the country China is virtually ruled by the Communist Party set up in 1921 and painstakingly organised from the grassroots upwards
Pakistan on the other hand was visualised by the founding father as a multi-party modern democracy, a pluralistic society and a welfare state where all institutions were to be under the control of the civilian government. The dream is yet to fully realized. Unlike President Xi, Mr Khan depends upon the support of electables who are either big landlords or urban billionaires who are averse to any radical change and move from party to party in the direction of unelected mentors. He can talk about radical change but never affect it.
