The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has become a "flagship" of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, according to Mushahid Hussain, a Pakistani senator and chairman of the parliamentary committee on the corridor. He said the Belt and Road Initiative - an umbrella term for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road - will result in land and sea routes that will connect countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. "In fact the corridor is not just about Pakistan and China, it is also about the region. It is about connectivity, it is about corridors, it is about cooperation," he said, refering to its influence beyond the South Asia region. Noting the "great" location of Gwadar Port, a meeting point of the Belt and Road routes, he said connectivity will be "key" to the initiative's success. "Today, the corridor is a factor of national unity in the progress and prosperity of the people of Pakistan and the provinces of Pakistan, particularly the less-developed regions, in the quest to build a better and more prosperous future," he said. He recalled the reply he gave to a journalist's question during an address at Harvard University in March about the challenges facing the corridor. "I said the corridor will succeed because it is a demand of our time, and it is what the people and the region want - a better life. "Also, the leaderships of both countries have the political vision and determination to take this forward together, with the support of Pakistan and the people of China," he added. He quoted a famous maxim by Chairman Mao Zedong: "Nothing is hard in this world if you dare to scale the heights." A staunch supporter of bilateral friendship and cooperation, the senator is also chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute, a think tank that worked with the China International Publishing Group to translate President Xi Jinping's book, Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, into Urdu. Hussain has good relationships with the leaders of both countries; his contact with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stretches back to the 1980s and he has met with Xi several times. "Both leaders have a common vision of development, of connectivity and promoting cooperation in their own countries and the region as a whole," he said, adding that Pakistan and China "have a model relationship". "And this bond, this tie and this rapport has withstood rigorous changes in both countries in the last 50-plus years," he said. rainbow wristbandwristband comcustom fidget spinnersballer bands
The Taiwan Travel Act signed on Friday by US President Donald Trump has dealt a serious blow to the complex ties between China and the United States, as well as to cross-Straits peace and stability, a Chinese official said on Sunday.The act sends the wrong signal to Taiwan independence separatists, said An Fengshan, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office.Trump pledged shortly after taking office to support the one-China policy. The act says that the US government should encourage visits between officials of Taiwan and the United States at all levels.Once again, I would like to solemnly urge Taiwan that relying on foreigners to build you up will only backfire, An said.On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of National Defense also spoke out.Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing firmly opposes Trump's signing of the act and has lodged serious representations to the US side.As has been pointed out many times by China, the key clauses of the act, though not legally binding, severely violate the one-China principle and the three joint communiques between China and the United States, Lu said.Beijing urges Washington to correct its mistake, stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way, Lu said.Taiwan-related issues should be handled properly and cautiously, Lu said.Wu Qian, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, warned in a statement issued later on Saturday that the act interferes in China's domestic affairs and undermines the development of ties between China and the US, including their militaries.Taiwan is a part of China, and matters regarding it are strictly internal affairs, Wu said.To avoid inflicting serious damage on China-US relations, as well as on peace and stability, Wu said, the US should keep its promises, rectify its wrongs, refrain from implementing certain clauses of the act, stop making military contacts and stop selling arms to Taiwan.Yuan Zheng, a senior researcher on US foreign policy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the act will motivate the separatists in Taiwan and worsen the situation there.
