President Xi speech at UN can be summarized around three key messages, 1) world needs a fair and dignity-based system, 2) no more bullying and 3) Human has common future. China’s international relation policy is revolving around these key areas. China is refining its’ approach to martialize the dream of fair and equality-based system without any fear of being bullied. The policy is being supported by concrete actions. China has launched a comprehensive diplomatic campaign to extend the message of peace and prosperity guided by these key messages. Mr. Wang Yi State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China is on a continuous steak of meetings and visits under the guidance of President Xi Jinping.
The glimpse of new policy and approach is crystal clear from the Alaska meeting. China changed her policy of tolerating criticism to counter the bullying. The top diplomates of China said enough is enough, no more bullying. It was first time that someone spoke to USA in such a tone in front of the top USA leadership. China also, is not in a mood to take any irrational interference in internal affairs. China has shown this commitment by imposing sanctions on European institutes, which were propagating against Xinjiang. It also sanctioned the H&M. EU was expecting that due to Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) China will not retaliate but China retaliated and told EU, CAI is not favor, it is mutually beneficial agreement for both parties. Now China has announced sanctions on European and USA people for interference in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
China is also busy in strengthening its ties with existing friends and forging new partnerships. After the Alaska meeting China has accelerated its efforts and right after the meeting invited Russian foreign minister. The visit concluded with meaningful interaction and consensus on the future cooperation in global arena. It was decided that China and Russia will work together for the fair and reliable global governance.
The next stop for Mr. Wang Yi, was West Asia/Middle East. Mr. Wang met with top leadership of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Turkey, UAE, Oman and Iran. The highlights of the meeting are; 1) KSA supported the stance of China on Xinjiang, 2) high level commitments from countries to expand cooperation under BRI and other initiatives, 3) signing of 25 years strategic partnership agreement with Iran, 4) China showed willingness to facilitate Israel and Palestine dialogue, 5) Middle East led process of peace, security and development for the region and 6) enhancing trade and economic linkages by respecting each other’s model of development. Moreover, China has also signed agreement for data security with Arab League.
China being the leading country of Asia and emerging global power of world is at center of criticism, propaganda and unfair treatment. CPEC being flagship project of BRI and sign of bilateral relationship, is equally under fire
From the discussion above we can draw two conclusions. First, China is moving forward by adopting a comprehensive approach and engaging all instruments of international cooperation. Second, change is happening at accelerated pace and China is leading the change. These conclusions have direct relevance for Pakistan because 1) Pakistan is iron brother for China and 2) Pakistan is home to flagship project of BRI, the CPEC. Thus, the counter strategy of USA and allies will have implications for Pakistan. In this backdrop, Pakistan needs to be vigilant and ponder on questions; Is Pakistan ready to embrace the change? What options Pakistan have to embrace change?
The answer to first question is not satisfactory, as policy framework in Pakistan is still dominated by the 20th century dynamics. We are still stuck in cold war era and new world order of USA. We are lagging behind in comprehending the new realities. We believe Pakistan enjoys the same strategic importance as it was during the cold war era. However, the reality is different, with the collapse of USSR, geo-strategic interests of West have been changed. Now the geo-strategic interests of USA and West have been tagged with India, as they see India as a good partner to contain China.
In the new geo-strategic environment USA and West even do not hesitate to squeeze Pakistan on economic front. It is not mere statement or rhetoric; it is evident from the recent actions of USA and its allies. For example, USA and West has launched a smear campaign against CPEC without considering the Pakistan’s needs. They are trying to create hurdles to delay the implementation. India has launched a sabotage campaign against the CPEC.
The situation urges Pakistan to be more active and devise new instruments of engagement by keeping in mind new geo-strategic environment. First, the international engagement should be refined according to new realities. For that purpose, Pakistan needs to immediately start a policy discourse with people who understand the new dynamics and are free from Western influence. Unfortunately, right now policy discourse in Pakistan is occupied by Western influenced minds. They try to analyse the rise of Asia, more specifically of China, by putting glasses of West, which leads to misdirected policy. The major reason is that the influencers are educated in West or inspired by Western philosophy or has deep stakes with the West.
Second, Pakistan should redefine its strategic affiliation in the context of rising status of China, geo-strategic interest of USA, QUAD and China containment policy of USA. China being the leading country of Asia and emerging global power of world is at center of criticism, propaganda and unfair treatment. CPEC being flagship project of BRI and sign of bilateral relationship, is equally under fire. Hence, Pakistan needs to come out of good days strategy and act according to the need of the time. First, Pakistan needs to redefine strategic alignment, as USA has clearly shown that India is USA’s strategic partner. Second, Pakistan being iron brother of China, should actively plays its role to negate and counter propaganda against China on the issues of Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan etc. Pakistan should show the facts to world. Pakistan should stand with China in the same way as Pakistan expects China to stand with Pakistan.
Third, Pakistan should treat CPEC as an urgent and prime area of work. It is good to note that Pakistan established CPEC Authority to justify the importance of CPEC. Despite all odds, it is performing good and Pakistan has started to receive the dividend of it. However, Pakistan needs to further strengthen it by analyzing the emerging realities at global and regional levels. We should analyze the different initiatives in region and beyond like Middle Corridor by Turkey, Asian African Growth Corridor by Japan and India, China-Iran strategic agreement, Comprehensive Agreement of Investment, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership etc. On the basis of analyse we should devise the future course of action for CPEC.
Second, CPEC is multi-dimensional program, no single ministry or institution can perform all works. In this context, CPEC Authority (or any institution or ministry) should be structured in such a way that it can take care of all dimensions of projects. Third, all political parties and stakeholder should own it and contribute to strengthen it. They should understand that positions and personalities are temporary, and institutions are permanent. For strengthening CPEC Authority, we can learn from China’s Leading Group philosophy or restructuring of National Development and Reform Commission of China.
Lastly, Pakistan needs to realize the urgency and pace of events. Pakistan should take these steps immediately, as it is pre-requisite to place the country at right place in changing dynamics. In nutshell, Pakistan needs minds, which can analyze the situation, devise policies and actions by putting on lens of Pakistan.
The writer is Director, Asia Study Center SDPI