Napoleon was right when he termed China as a sleeping giant, which when awakened could move the world. The direction that Chinese President Xi Jinping will take China in next couple of years will impact not just Pakistan, but indeed the order of the world.
China’s ruling Communist Party moved on Tuesday to confirm Xi Jinping’s rise to becoming the country’s most powerful leader in decades by amending its constitution to add his name and ideology to it – the first Chinese leader to have managed this since Mao Zedong – indicating that the next era will be a crucial one for China.
This move indicates that Jinping aims to sit comfortable in his seat for a long time as this step will make it difficult for any party member to disagree with Jinping. The world stands more to gain or lose by the act of Jinping’s ideology now being revered in the constitution. An important aspect of Jinping’s policies was taking center stage in the world, aiming to establish China as a superpower that plays a rule-setting role in global affairs. This is in line with the prediction that in the wake of an inward-looking US, headed by an incompetent President, China will now step in as the world’s superpower; a thought that has been echoed by Asian, African and even Western countries like Canada. How this underlining of China’s aim to expand its influence will rest with the world, and especially U.S, remains to be seen but it is safe to say that it won’t rest well.
On a surface level, this seems good for Pakistan, as it solidifies China’s ambition for CPEC. However, it could also halt it, as with One Belt One Road (OBOR) now being blatantly stated in the constitution, it could inspire opposition from India or U.S, which could put Pakistan in a comprising position. Jinping’s speech also inspires revolt from those opposed to CPEC, who could see this as a foreshadowing of a new form of imperialism.