One element common to the Chinese leadership from Chairman Mao Ze Dong to Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping is their acute focus on the human capital – the key to social peace and economic progress; while cognizant of the headwinds from the west, the leaders took up the challenge of honing the huge population – spread over diverse regions – in to a productive nation.
Xun Zi (313 BC–238 BC), the famous philosopher from the Warring States period; is quoted to have said: “The Emperor is the boat and the people are the water. Water can carry the boat, but also capsize the boat.”
This saying by Xun seems to have inspired the people-centric focus of the Communist Party. Shortcomings at social level and a politically constrained environment, notwithstanding, the national spirit for peace, development and innovation has taken China to new levels.
The instrument for inculcating the spirit of China and channelizing collective energies for economic development was the Communist Party which cuts across all shades of life as well regions. A uniformed governance structure – from the canton to the province and to the centre in Beijing – all guided also by the ancient Chinese wisdom and the modern revolutionary zeal that has morphed in to the China Spirit.
Particularly since the arrival of President Xi Jinping in 2012, the China Spirit has become more pronounced – with a razor focus on anti-corruption and economic , technological progress as a means of poverty alleviation too.
In January 2024 Xi proclaimed “overwhelming victory” against corruption. The anti-corruption drive that he launched in 2012 seems to have become a part of the system; the past 10 years have seen purging of nearly 5 million, , mostly party and military officials. China’s score on the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International has improved six points to 45 – a point above India over the same period. Ironically, the United States has declined 4 points to 69.
President Xi and the party of course built the national development agenda on the strong foundation – first in the post 1949 revolution years under Chairman Mao and then the strong reforms’ process under Deng Xiaping.
It has been a long struggle – against heavy odds that the country faced from the west. It also forced it to develop and devise its own soci-economic system – supported by technological progress.
The most striking feature of the rise of China, nonetheless, is the integrity of its big leaders.
None of the veteran leaders – Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiao Peng, Hu Jin Tao – carries the stigma of corruption or abuse of power for personal gains.
The current strongman – Xi Jinping, often projected by the western media as an autocrat ruling China with an iron hand, stands even taller than some of the past leaders; under his presidency, China has made breathtaking, unprecedented strides in economy, finance and technological development.
Despite boasting undiluted absolute power in a system that is uniquely democratic in the Chinese way , Xi has exuded the image of a committed nationalist leader who draws authority from immaculate integrity.
Chinese people in general associate impeccable integrity and unquestionable character with leaders who make it to the top seven slots – the Polit Bureau – including the secretary general of the Communist Party of China (CPC). They are considered as demigods who rise through the ranks from the cantons to the highest position. The evaluation and promotion system filters only the best and the unquestionable leaders to the top slots. It is hence extremely rare to point fingers at them for any political or financial wrongdoing, or abuse of power.
CPC caders call it democracy with Chinese characteristics that lends the system legitimacy and the popular buy-in across all shades of life.
Contrast this with the Pakistani leadership and their claim to good governance. It comes across as more than a sham if viewed against the performance of the military, Zardaris, Bhuttos, Sharifs and the Maulanas. The ballooning assets at home and abroad of these political luminaries and the politics of patronage only make a mockery of their claims on democracy and honest politics.
During his first stint as the president, Asif Ali Zardari visited China for more than a dozen times – often to the displeasure of the senior Beijing leadership.
After a couple of visits, they advised him to go to the provinces and see the transformation there. This was one way of telling him off Beijing. Both Sharifs did the same with their frequent yatra of China.
But did they learn anything to apply at home and transform their fiefdom that is called Pakistan?
If you glance through Larkana, Nawabshah, Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Multan or Bahawalpur one wonders what knowledge did Zardari or Sharifs acquire in China.
Since March 2022, these leaders toiled extra hard to qualify for the top slots such as the President, PM, and Foreign Minister. They indulged in, or endorsed, actions that have been apolitical, undemocratic and often unconstitutional.
This mind-boggling charade has had irreparable consequences for the country. – both at home and abroad.
The current Pakistani leadership has been suspect in the eyes of the West any way for its self-serving transactional instincts. It has now earned the ire of the Chinese officials and academics as well – losing credibility like never before.
The latest episode was the big delegation to Beijing that Shehbaz Sharif led – all attired in executive suits as if attending a business and investment conference – in June 2024.
Unlike the talk of properties and assets in the country and abroad of Zardaris, Buttos, and Sharifs no body ever talks of assets accumulated by Chairmen Mao, Deng, Hu Jintaor, Xi Jinping or any Chinese premiers. Simply because they have none.
Amazing story of contrasting integrity and leadership
