NOTE: This is an analysis piece that tries to correlate publicly reported and observed events of national and international significance. The author does not have access to any secret, classified, or non-publicly disclosed information. As is the case with all such analysis, there is a margin of error in the conclusions drawn. The reader is advised to take this into consideration and use personal intellect and knowledge to draw individual conclusions.
The recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his delegation to China offers a unique perspective for those interested in understanding what exactly drives the 'Khan Eleven'. Just as the measure of a man or group is obtained from their words and actions, so too the treatment meted by others provides a different perspective into their true nature. Based on publicly available news so far, China has reinforced its brotherly relations with Pakistan, while snubbing 'Team Imran' at a personal level. In this article, we take a look at evidence that reinforces this line of thinking.
But before we talk about 'Team Imran' specifically, it is essential to provide a historical context of China's current geo-political situation, and the challenges it faces. If we look at Western narrative concerning China, we find repeated accusations of a totalitarian, repressive regime that curtails individual freedoms and poses a threat to neighbors and the world at large. In Pakistan, such propaganda is rightfully filtered out to construct a positive image of our friend and ally. Unfortunately, this causes Pakistani audiences to completely lose track of the poisonous campaign against our ally. In turn, this limits our ability to understand the difficulties and problems faced by our friend.
While Western rhetoric unilaterally paints China in a negative image, it cunningly hides the organized Western propaganda that is orchestrated world wide against China. For this author, the realization dawned during the uproar about the Uighur issue. It is to be noted that the Uighur issue is well known for a long time. But during the recent escalation of tensions between the United States and China, an orchestrated fresh campaign of accusations was started with renewed vigor. And this author was amazed and astounded by the breadth and depth of this campaign, when in a tiny Sydney mosque, the prayer leader discussed the issue before the start of congregational prayers. It is to be noted, that in a Western society such as Australia, using the pulpit for political propaganda is highly frowned upon. Most prayer leaders pointedly stay away from issuing political statements. Thus, the behavior observed in this Sydney mosque was bizarre and against the norm. The only way a prayer leader could get away with this, is if he was backed by the establishment. And the summary of what the prayer leader said after recapping the situation in Uighur camps, is that we should pray for our Muslim brothers, and boycott Chinese products. Trump's trade war had reached a Sydney mosque! Of course, it is to be noted that plausible deniability was maintained in this incident, for I am quite sure the prayer leader would assume personal responsibility for his actions upon inquiry.
Needless to say, China is extremely sensitive regarding widely publicized Western narrative. With this understanding in mind, consider what China would perceive when the Minister of Religious Affairs in the PTI government takes up this same Uighur issue during the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister, exactly during the height of the Western campaign, and the matter is publicized through various media outlets. This was a diplomatic disaster of epic proportions, and from a Chinese perspective, it raises embarassing questions about the actual intentions of Imran Khan and his PTI government. Once the doorway to this suspicion is opened, a close scrutiny follows. Let us review available evidence.
On October 8, 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan reserved its judgement regarding the blashpemy case involving one Asia Bibi. Interestingly, on the very same day, before the actual hearing by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the website of an INGO named 'International Commission of Jurists' published an article on the matter:
https://www.icj.org/asia-bibis-case-a-final-plea-for-justice/
Amazingly, the Supreme Court's decision reads like a further elucidation of the judgement passed in the ICJ article
http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/Crl.A._39_L_2015.pdf
One may question why China should be concerned about something that is essentially an internal matter of Pakistan? Because this same ICJ has a long history of publications condemning human rights in China, including the issue of Uighurs. It doesn't inspire much trust if China sees the Supreme Court of its ally, where it has made billions of dollars of investments, parroting the views of an anti-China INGO.
In the immediate aftermath of Imran Khan's recent visit to Saudi Arabia, we came to know that Pakistan shall play the role of 'arbitrator' in the Yemen conflict. In face, the Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry recently went on camera to say we expect some meaningful results from this effort soon. But the reality of the situation was revealed in a recent CNN news article:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/31/politics/us-saudi-yemen-khashoggi/index.html
It turns out that actually the Americans are pushing for peace, using Saudi vulnerability as leverage. Disregarding the concern about what this means for Pak-Saudi relations, we stick to analyzing China's perspective. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has come closer to China, especially with the Saudi King visiting China in 2017. But even more importantly, China sees the Kashoggi debacle as an opportunity for China and Saudi to come closer
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...on-jamal-khashoggi-murder-could-see-china-and
There are two interesting takeaways here. The PTI government has tried to shamelessly take credit of an American led initiative in which Imran Khan's input is minimal. But even more importantly, this is an initiative to arm twist the Saudis on the Kashoggi matter - which is supposed to bring together our two closest allies.
During Imran Khan's China visit, in his address to Central Party School on Nov 4, 2018, he waxed lyrical on the topic of Chinese success in poverty alleviation.
Strangely enough, on Oct 31, 2018, Bill Gates gave a talk on the topic of 'Living in extreme poverty' where he also mentioned China's success in poverty alleviation
It is to be noted that people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are considered the benign face of the American deep state. Behind the guise of philantrophic ventures, they are actively forwarding the American agenda. From the Chinese perspective, Imran Khan once again comes forth as a follower of Western thought.
But even more damning are Khan's public elocutions on how Scandanavian countries such as Denmark are the true manifestation of 'Riasat-e-Madina' (State of Medina). It should be noted that Zardari and Nawaz Sharif also have considerable ties with the West. But, they were seen as incompetent, provincial minded, and greedy people leading a poor country. In Imran Khan, China sees an educated, intellectual, man on a mission with very strong leanings towards the West who is leading a poor country. A country that doesn't have much to offer beyond defence cooperation today. As such, Imran Khan is an unknown quantity who shall be watched very closely. It is no wonder then, that the list of MoUs signed during the visit has no mention of mutual steps in dealing with corruption. Would China trust Khan enough to share internal matters that could provide further ammunition to its enemies to be used for levelling accusations of human rights violations? Only time will tell.
For Pakistan, it should be a cause for extreme concern, that our state institutions are seen as an extension of Western policy. In an increasingly multipolar world, being seen as intellectually subjugated to the West will only lessen Pakistan's stature. Could there be any steps that Khan can take to increase Chinese confidence? Given that Khan's powerbase lies in the West through his ties with Jemima Goldsmith and his British upbringing, gaining full trust is highly unlikely. China is accustomed to Western interference in its neighborhood in the form of leaders educated in Britain. The example of Aung San Suu Kyi comes to mind. Given such high company, no one is fooled regarding Imran Khan's real intentions, and the masters he serves.
Khan should know that for over a decade, technology has existed which, given as input a news about a typhoon, can not only predict the possible path, but can automatically reason that due to a large number of houses being destroyed, the demand for cement will rise, hence the price for cement will rise. This technology was in the hands of US military more than a decade ago - although, of course, the US military has other concerns than the price of cement. There is no reason to believe that China doesn't utilize big data technology. Correlations that have been manually found in this article can be queried easily through such software. Thus, Khan can run, but he cannot hide.
But as far as state institutions are concerned, it is their duty to abide by the true spirit of Iman and Islam which is embodied in the constitution of Pakistan.
