CPEC going on full throttle, says Chinese envoy

-Yao Jing Islamabad, Beijing very much on same page over CPEC
-Stresses Media for countering anti-CPEC propagation
-Expresses outmost satisfaction over CPEC progress
-Hails Alvi’s Beijing trip amidst COVID-19 peak
-Says Chinese President will surely visit Pakistan soon, Dates to be announced
mutually
-Sees india in constant provocation mod
-Expects India to show sanity on LAC, LOC

By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai

Islamabad: Ambassador of Peoples Republic of China to Islamic Republic of Pakistan Yao Jing has said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was going on full throttle and at a tremendous pace with Beijing and Islamabad being very much on the same page over execution of all the projects under CPEC and there were no reservations on either side over any issue related to CPEC.
Ambassador Yao, while responding to the questions by media here on Friday said that both China and Pakistan were equally eager in benefitting maximum from CPEC and thus, all political parties, including the ruling PTI leadership has shown utmost resilience in smooth implementation of CPEC. “I am not just satisfied but extremely satisfied with the way the CPEC is going on and I’ll be leaving Pakistan with this utmost satisfaction and success”, said Yao Jing.
To a question, Chinese Ambassador said that it was unfortunate that a variety of negative propaganda campaigns against CPEC were going on in an organized manner by certain secret elements and such elements were mongering one rumor after the other to create misconceptions and misperceptions about CPEC.
“However by looking at the dedication, capabilities and abilities of the Pakistani media, one can easily develop a belief that such malicious campaigns will always die” he added. His trust on the Pakistani media to continue playing active and solid role for not only safeguarding CPEC but also in enhancing the mutual interests of the Iron Brothers.
To another question, Ambassador Yao said that Chinese leadership as well as people of China were very much touched by the visit of Pakistani President Mr. Arif Alvi which he paid to Beijing to show solidarity with people and government of China, at a time when Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak across China. “This is what makes us Iron brothers, such heartwarming gestures cannot be seen anywhere else in the world and this is why our friendship is often termed as an All weather friendship” asserted Yao.
He said that visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan was on the top priority and President Xi will pay the State visit once the dates of the visit are finalized by the mutual understanding of both sides. He said that there was no truth in the rumor about Chinese President postponing or cancelling his visit as the visit plan was never finalized officially at any level.
To yet another question Ambassador Yao Jing answered that India was behaving sanely as apparently it has developed a habit of provoking its neighbors. He said “India’s behavior on LAC was completely uncalled for and right from Doklan incident and the recent Ladakh offences, China tried to hold its patience and responded to India’s provocative acts with calmness and sensibility.
But I guess India is failing to understand it, they are perhaps, not ready to listen to the language of peace which could be dangerous not only for them but for the entire region. They must develop some maturity and sanity while handling the affairs on International borders and at sensitive places like LAC and LOC”.
He further said that Pakistan and China were allies for peace and this Pak-China alliance should by no means me taken as a threat by any third party. “We, China and Pakistan, have always been together and will always remain together but this Iron Brotherhood is for peace and development, without any aggressive designs” expressed the Chinese Ambassador.
Recalling his memories from two previous tenures in Pakistan, Ambassador Yao who is in the last leg of his third tenure in Pakistan said that he has seen Pakistan and Pakistani society making a great transformation over the years.
“I have travelled to all parts of Pakistan in my previous and current tenure and I am amazed and extremely delighted to see the infrastructure development and the social excellence as well as the economic growth that Pakistan has made in the past few decades and I am very sure that Pakistani people have the resilience and ability to take it to new horizons in very near future and I am sure, CPEC will play a major role in it. “ said the Ambassador.
Agencies add: Chinese ambassador Yao Jing who concludes his tenure here lauded Pakistan’s media for its supportive role in implementing CPEC. There are some superb achievements at the credit of Ambassador Yao, as he laid special focus on promoting economic diplomacy and ensuring smooth working of CPEC.
At the farewell reception, he hosted for the local media here on Friday, he mentioned the splendid progress made during his stay in Pakistan, particularly the launching of the 2nd phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and signing of 2nd phase of China, Pakistan Free Trade agreement.
Yao Jing who had taken over his responsibility as Chinese ambassador to Pakistan in December, 2017 showed true love with the people of Pakistan, particularly during the outbreak of coronavirus.
He along with the members of his team in the Chinese embassy made untiring efforts for timely availability of Chinese support to the virus-hit people. At the diplomatic front, he worked hard promoting China’s support to Pakistan on Kashmir issue. Time and again, Yao Jing effectively countered negative propoganda by Western and Indian lobby against the CPEC.
Speaking at the reception, with a sense of joy and pride, he termed his tenure in Pakistan as most memorable. He expressed his confidence that the Sino-Pak relations will keep growing and the CPEC’s projects will greatly contribute to the well-being of the people. The Sino-Pak relations are not limited to CPEC, but their spectrums are quite wide, covering all areas of bilateral interests. The leadership of the two countries committed to deepen their decades’ old partnership, he added.
While praising high the support, he had received from the government and the people of Pakistan, he noted that media had been on the forefront in supporting him for further strengthening the Sino-Pak diplomatic ties and socio-economic partnership.
It is worth-mentioning that in the recent years, there was a considerable progress in promoting people-to-people exchanges, particularly enhancing the number of Pakistani students visiting China on scholarships.
Yao Jing will leave Pakistan, returning to the Foreign Ministry of China for having his next assignment.
Nong Rong, Head of Ethnic Affairs Commission of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been nominated as the new envoy.
Ambassador Yao Jing is already paying farewell calls to Pakistani dignitaries. Yao Jing has served in Pakistan thrice and stayed in Islamabad for 11 years in aggregate. He was going to leave a lot of fans in Pakistan.
According to the official website of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the new appointed ambassador Nong Rong was born in September 1967.
He is a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and holds a certification in International Business.
Nong Rong once worked in the office of the Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department, the ASEAN Countries and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Divisions of the Department of Commerce of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He served as Assistant Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Expo.