According to press reports, President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan needs to learn from the Chinese experience of development. I think he should advise politicians of the country on becoming honest like the Chinese leaders none of which had ever bought palaces and luxury flats in foreign countries. In China, the punishment for a politician or bureaucrat, if he is found to have indulged in corruption, is death. Another hard to emulate facet of the Chinese state for us is that they allow no religious schools or madressas of any kind in China. There are no multi tiers in education system there nor differing standards of education for rich and poor. The Chinese leaders are absolutely committed to welfare of their citizens and to the cause of improving their lot in life. The biggest irony of Pak-China relations is that despite mouthing inanities about the depth and height of Pak-China friendship, our leaders and bureaucrats who visit Beijing often enough to discuss co-operation on this, that and the other, never try to know the secrets of Chinas phenomenal rise to present economic primacy. But, then, that is because they know they would be unable to adopt Chinas policies or methodologies in Pakistan. Our leaders, for instance, have never quite understood how China has successfully controlled its explosive population growth. Nor do they have any sense why the entire female population of China is able to work alongside their males for development of the country. The absolute and total lack of gender discrimination is not something that inspires Pakistani decision makers. Similarly, Chinas resolute dependence on indigenous natural resources, the fact that it is meeting nearly 80% of its total energy requirement from coal should be a lesson for Pakistani leaders. We have the second largest reserve of coal in the world right here in Thar but are producing may be about 50 MW power from coal. Most important of all, this generation of China is blessedly unaware of a blight called feudalism which mars Pakistan even today. President Zardari needs to learn himself something from the Chinese President before he could ask the country to learn from China. -ENGR. S.T. HUSSAIN, Lahore, June 10.