Too many cooks spoil the broth, but in China, there are not many cooks nor does the broth get spoiled at all. Not only myself but all my journalist friends who visited China along with me on the invitation of Chinese Consul-General at Lahore, agree with me (thanks to C.G Mr Long Ding Bin and Deputy C.G Mr Wang Daxue) on this point. As for the ‘not-many-cooks’ reality, it dawned on us in a small way as well as in a big way. In a small way, the reality dawned on us during a visit to a Chinese restaurant where Halal food was served and cooking of meat was done by us in the boiling pots placed on electronic switches in front of every one of us. It was an amazing experience that none of us had ever had either in the East or the West. And in a big way, yet bigger reality is that Chinese society and the state (all its institutions) are on the same page in a natural way (i.e without any efforts involved) in ridding themselves of spoilsports. Take any decision, select any track and embark on any path of prosperity, there will be no hitches and hiccups the likes of which we have sadly experienced back in our country in the form of unnecessary debates or in the shape of excessive petitioning and litigation that have proved to be spoilers and impediments of the worst order even in projects that bring relief in the lives of people at the grass-roots level. Actually, ours is quite a crude- and rude- interpretation of legal codes otherwise, throughout the world, especially in China, laws and public welfare are synonymous. Nowhere in the world, laws are followed only for the sake of laws but for the furtherance of public wellbeing. Aren’t we going on a steep decline, given our fondness for too much debate, that too without substance and given our ultra liking for institutional and individual hegemony? I envy the cool-and wise- psyche of Chinese leaders (of all wings of the state apparatus) who are completely free from malicious intent despite the fact that arrogance remains a natural offspring of success in some (unrefined) societies but nowhere is this malaise found in China. So, there is no question of any inter-institution friction which can hamper the journey of progress in China. I think the Chinese practice pragmatism which allows no room for the ‘luxuries’ of ‘loose debates’ and battles of hegemony or dominance. For the forward-looking Chinese, they are ailments, not luxuries. We claim to be good friends of China having friendship deeper than the oceans. We go deep into the relationships but we don’t go deep into the success stories of friends like China where the people enjoy doing hard work without waiting restlessly, minute-by-minute, for the off-duty moments. Work and sheer hard work with faith in their destiny appears to be the mission of our Chinese friends who mean business in OBOR (One Belt One Road), the parent initiative of CPEC. At Foreign Office in Beijing, the Chinese diplomat, Mr Liu Pengfei, assured us wholeheartedly that the pilot project of OBOR namely CPEC would continue in full swing, come what may and that it would be beneficial for both China and Pakistan. In all, the eight-day visit to China has been marvelous in the sense that it provided us opportunity to visit the Great Wall of China where biting cold and strong winds welcomed us much to my chagrin. We also visited the SIAS International University, spread over hundreds of acres even beyond the ordinary reach of human vision and it can be certainly likened to the centre-stage of civilizations since it imparts knowledge to students from all over the world. It has practical business plans also for its students besides having squares named after many countries of Europe. Its founder is a Chinese-American, Mr Shawn Chen. The tour of this vast and spacious private university, imparting diversified education and skills, was led by the elegant and eloquent (in English) lady Director of the Department of Global Exchange, Ms Jinjin Chu, who spellbound many of us with her cultured presence. At the famous Shaolin Temple, we saw kung-fu demonstrations by bullet-speed disciples of Shaolin monks. Prior to that, whenever a waiter would come to us at any airport along with his long list of eatables and drinks, I would candidly tell him that we are journalists, not customers. This is not all, many more things happened and we learned a lot that may require more space in the newspaper columns. If I happen to make this brave attempt again with newer thoughts and observations, please prepare yourself for that (ordeal). mianrehman1@gmail.com
