China’s success based on public-govt integration

Essentially this column is a travelogue based on my visit to China that concluded the other day. The inspiration that I have drawn from Chinese friends, especially their hospitality and their unique model of success and growth as well as people’s empowerment, has made me declare China a ‘Fair and Square China’.

Eight days that I spent in China along with other knowledgeable and versatile friends from Pakistani media, were really enlightening as they not only opened new vistas of learning but also the unique lifestyles of the people of China which symbolize greater integration among the masses and the brain behind, President Xi Jinping, who got the vote of confidence once again from the representatives of Chinese wisdom recently during the 19th Congress of CPC (Communist Party of China). The fact is that CPC is the repository of wisdom in every nook and corner of China. It is from CPC that the wisdom flows from top to bottom and vice versa.

As we were told by Ye Feng, senior professor, Urdu Service of China Radio International (CRI), CPC holds thorough discussions with people’s representatives from all walks of life who stand integrated into the overall, national system in the form of some other representative parties and groups. It is this mass integration that has worked wonders in a system that is not understood well in many other systems in force in most parts of the world in general and western world in particular. Interestingly, this western world has not yet been able to achieve the high standard of public-government integration despite its tall claims of making strides in democracy. Without this integration, how can the West claim to be serving the masses in their best interest? Is the mere bagging of votes sufficient enough for taking pride in it and for continuing to swallow the ever-widening gulf between the leaders and the led?

Take, for example, the old (redundant) saying by way of which countries like China and Russia are described by some people as countries behind the iron curtain. These critics are probably not aware of the massive transformation inside China. The way the Chinese engage in open discussions with different segments including the media, this ‘iron curtain’ theory seems to be a total misnomer. Our media delegation was warmly welcomed with smiles and exceptional courteousness at every appointed spot giving us the real feel of being ‘iron brothers’.  Chinese leaders often use this term to explain that there exists long-lasting and all-weather friendship between Pakistan and China. And although China is a country where ‘strict control’, ‘strict discipline’ and ‘no laxity’ are some main pillars of governance, the open and heart-to-heart dialogue between Chinese functionaries and media-persons from Pakistan proved that unlike over-cautious officials and diplomats of modern western countries that claim to be open-minded, Chinese are not wary of others trying to interact and know more and more about them (the Chinese).

Even the Chinese visa policy regime is not as much humiliating as that of some leading countries of the West whose ambassadors are not practically the ambassadors of goodwill (since they are afraid of interaction with media). Moreover, these leaders of the West, despite their claims of liberalism and global consolidation (let alone peace), do not give preference to people without millions in their kitty at the time of issuance of visas (lucky are those poor guys who manage to get ‘honour’, though very rarely, at par with the affluent people who enjoy the ‘most favoured individuals’ status in the West).

The first impression formed after meeting the Chinese people including their functionaries, educationists and journalists, is that they are ‘all for one and one for all’ in their journey of growth, success and prosperity. And when someone from the outside world tries to raise skeptical questions about their system, they simply say: “The world need not copy our system; our upward journey is going well and it is known to the world at large”.

…mianrehman1@gmail.com