Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China
PRIME Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China is going to mark a watershed in the history of good relations between the two neighbours.
Not only that Pakistan did not follow the USA and Europe to boycott the International Sports event in China but also turned into a bilateral visit.
Official reports indicate that as many as 21 new sectors would be opened up under the CPEC during the visit putting a shut-up call to circles harbouring and promoting the misperception that CPEC under Prime Minister Imran Khan (PMIK) government was put in the cold storage to avoid offending the US and Europe.
Even before the visit, one Arif Rafiq contributed an op-ed piece in the New York Times International Edition circulated in Pakistan as well on Monday (January 24, 2022) under the title,’ Pakistan’s Army wants a do-over with America’.
This reminded me the words of John Swinton, former Chief of Staff of The New York Times.
When asked to give a toast to the “free press” at the New York Press Club, he stated: “There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press.
You know it and I know it.There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print.
I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with.
Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job.
If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread.
You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press?
We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes.We are the jumping jacks; they pull the strings and we dance.
Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men.We are intellectual prostitutes.”
With this stark reality in view, let me make some apt comments on Pakistan-China relations in the context of Goebbels’ tactics employed by Arif Rafiq in his article.
The affiliation of Arif Rafiq with a political risk advisory firm specializing in the Middle East and South Asia makes it obvious that he works for creating a media perception to jeopardize Pakistan- China relations at a very crucial time when PMIK is visiting China after shameful exit of the US and its allied NATO forces from Afghanistan.
I have the apprehension that a certain lobby represented by the likes-of Arif Rafiq would trump-up this theme in the media in the days to come to eclipse the anticipated encouraging outcome of the visit.
Let’s see the sarcasm latent in Arif Rafiq’s comment that Pakistan and China’s leadership have described their relationship as “sweeter than honey”.
Adding the concocted insinuation that “Pakistan Army’s view of relationship with China appears to be soaring- and diverging from the political leadership”.
The conclusions drawn by Arif Rafiq are purportedly based on assessment of a TV anchor, Kamran Khan who is hardly believed to be an expert on international relations in general and Pak-China ties in particular.
His specialty in media is political commentary and not the international or regional arena.
Media circles in Pakistan would seriously question the objective assessment of such a naïve Media Anchor on issues like Pakistan’s relations with China, India and the United States.
I tend to disagree with Arif Rafiq that media in Pakistan is a grey area.Compared to its immediate neighbour, India, where the media hardly reports anything unless cleared by the South Block, Pakistan media is completely free reporting whatever it likes without any clearance or permission from the State institutions.
The argument put forth by Arif Rafiq that Pakistan Army “fears getting trapped in a cul-de-sac with Beijing” is contrary to reality.
Whenever Pakistan Army needed state-of-the-art defence equipment, the US and its allies declined to oblige Pakistan due to India factor.
Conversely, China has been a reliable source of supplies to Pakistan and even entering into several joint ventures for defence production.
Pakistan’s dependence on Chinese armament is the only reliable source for its traditional requirement of defense equipment.
Arif Rafiq failed to mention oft-repeated stance of the Pakistan leadership-both civilian and the defence forces — that we would keep a balance in international relations with all countries.
While the general perception in Pakistan is that the Chinese leadership and Pakistan military leadership are more in comfort with each other than any previous governments, Arif Rafiq tried to sell the new hypothesis.
Of course, it is his overt mandate to confound facts with fiction and try to create a wedge between the two state organs of Pakistan and vitiate the outcome of PMIK’s visit to China.
Quoting a lone analyst and using his words to formulate hypothesis is a common media gimmickry.
Arif Rafiq has indeed used this trick skilfully.In the days to come, his comments would be used by his like-minded influencers in Pakistan media.
Let me admit frankly that foreign advertisement flow in Pakistan is a very important factor in shaping media perception.
The influence of foreign advertisement tycoons in Pakistan is pervasive and total.No government including that of PMIK can withstand the impact of this influence.
The foreign media perceptions are readily adapted to blast Pakistan and its institutions.As long as China is an economic threat to the interests of the erstwhile solo world superpower, United States of America, they would continue to use their proxies in Pakistan media to spread negative perception about the key institutions of Pakistan like the Army.
Many a times, questions are raised about secrecy of agreements between China and Pakistan under CPEC and unfounded allegations of wrong doing against Pakistan interest and ultimate alleged colonization of Pakistan by China are dished out in Pakistan media.
The subject needs a comprehensive debate.—The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Chairman, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.
