At a one-day training session held at COMSATS University, Islamabad, the participants were enlightened on Chinese governance model and cautioned against understanding China in the western perspective.
The session, ‘Understanding Governance Model of China’ was jointly organised the other day by China Study Centre of COMSATS University and Asian Institute of Eco-Civilisation Research and Development (AIERD). Young researchers, students and faculty members from universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi attended the session.
Dr Tahir Mumtaz Awan, Director of China Study Centre, told Gwadar Pro that Pakistani people had little chance to understand China through the Chinese lens. Instead, they have to rely on news reports of the western media, which are biased towards China and driven by vested political interests of the western powers.
Dr Tahir conducted the first session of the training, in which he highlighted the core values, ethics and philosophy behind the Chinese governance system. He said that China Study Centre was striving to familiarise Pakistani researchers with the Chinese governance model from its true perspective to clear their minds of the negative propaganda of the western media against China. He also threw light on China’s five-year plans for the betterment of its people. He said that the Chinese governance model was perfect in the sense that no one is above the law in China.
Humayun Khan, Coordinator at German foundation Frederich Ebert Stiftung and an expert on China, conducted the second session of the training. He talked about the communist system of China, which he said emphasised the homogeneous aspects of society. He said that Pakistani audiences were negatively influenced by baseless allegations against China levelled through the western media. He cautioned the participants against judging China in light of the maligning drive of the western media. He said that it was better to understand China through its model of governance and the reforms introduced by the Communist Party of China, which he said powered China to become the second largest economy of the world with the complete elimination of absolute poverty in a relatively shorter time.
The third session was conducted by Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, CEO of AIERD. He talked about the strength of China in the new era, the capabilities of the the Communist Party of China and the opportunities it had created for its people through strenuous planning and robust implementation of reforms agenda. He also elaborated with the participants on how Chinese society was progressing, making China the biggest ‘soft power’ in the world. He said that progressive nations in the world were now more inclined towards China than western powers.
COMSATS University is also working to promote people-to-people and business-to-business relations between China and Pakistan and has also organised China-Pakistan Business Forums in the past. China Study Centre is also striving to highlight China’s culture in Pakistan to create harmony between the two brotherly nations, Dr Tahir said. COMSATS University also has established a China Corner at the Centre to provide original resources and materials to those interested in studying China and its social, economic and political systems, he said.
