Following the prescription of the West, we have brutally and very abruptly brought our population growth under control so much so that our TFR now borders on negative growth
Shafiqul Alam
Some 40,000 students of Pakistan are studying in Chinese universities. They outnumber students from other South Asian nations by at least four to five times. Several thousands Nepalese students are in China. The number of Bangladeshi students in China has been growing at a fast clip in recent years, but their number is still below 5,000. Why education in China matters? It matters hugely because Chinese universities have outshone some of the Ivy League universities and colleges in the United States. They produce best computer engineers, mathematicians, bio scientists, robot and nano technologists. To go to Chinese university is to embrace the latest technological development in the world.
Pakistan with all its political flaws and inadequacies and extremism problems in the borderland has perfected the art of staying close to the dominant power of the world. They were one of the biggest beneficiaries of the US-Soviet Cold War. Even during the war on terror, they milked tens of billions of dollars from the neo-con US establishments. As the world is moving decisively into a new Cold War 2.0 with China emerging as a major threat to longstanding US dominance of global order, Pakistan again is destined to benefit from the new geopolitical rivalry. China has poured in more than 50 billion dollars to fix some of the most difficult infrastructural problems of Pakistan. It has opened the gates of its top universities and medical schools to top Pakistani students. Chinese language schools proliferates in Pakistan cities.
If the communist Party of China does not blow up the country’s rise by invading Taiwan or committing major policy suicides, it will be impossible to rein in China’s rise as the dominant power of the world. Increasingly it is also dawning on the US establishments. Its China-decoupling or China-de-risking strategies haven’t worked. The Biden Administration’s controversial Chip Act did not stop China from accessing the latest 5g super conductors. One studz shows, China is ahead of the US in 37 of the 44 cutting edge technologies. A Chinese rise will have trickle down effect on its neighbours. Alreadz Malaysia and Indonesia have been immensely benefitted by Chinese investments. Pakistan is still politically messy. But once it bootstraps with the Chinese economy, Pakistan too will be rewarded. And if China continues to grow at this rate and its population continues to decline, it will need to open up its doors for overseas workers. Pakistan will again be one of the beneficiaries.
Unlike Bangladesh, Pakistan will enjoy its demographic dividends for many decades to come. Following the prescription of the West, we have brutally and very abruptly brought our population growth under control so much so that our TFR now borders on negative growth. Pakistan did it slowly. Now if their pivot to China policy works according to their plan, they will be one of the biggest winners of the new Cold War. 9-3-2024. From Facebook