PHOTO: Radio Pakistan

Chinese netizens elated at Alvi’s timely visit to Beijing

Dr Arif Alvi visited Beijing on Monday and Tuesday to express Pakistan’s solidarity with China after virus outbreak


APP March 20, 2020
BEIJING: President Dr Arif Alvi’s visit to China at a time when many countries around the world are trying to cope with the spread of the novel coronavirus indicated that the long-held friendship between the two countries cannot be held back by the pandemic.

Alvi visited Beijing on Monday and Tuesday to express Pakistan’s solidarity with China after the virus outbreak. For the people of China, the visit was the most news-worthy event besides the updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak.

According to the data collected by two most popular news platforms in China, just one article about Alvi’s visit won attention of more than 370,000 netizens with over 6,000 likes and 1,000 comments – a real hit not many news articles can normally expect.

“Pakistan is a real friend. That we Chinese people are very certain of,” a Chinese netizen commented. “We cherish the friendship between China and Pakistan that has been passing on to generations and generations,” read another one.

China-Pakistan relationship is called an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, Qian Feng, senior fellow at the Taihe Institute, told Global Times. “All-weather means frequent visits under any condition are normal.”

At the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Pakistan offered medical supplies even as it was confronting a sluggish economy. Qian said that Alvi’s visit during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic mirrored Pakistan’s firm support of the Chinese people.

According to APP, most readers expressed their gratitude to Alvi for visiting China at this crucial time. “The iron brothers are united. Through joint efforts, China and Pakistan will defeat the COVID-19, and resume economic development,” read a comment.

Most of the remarks suggested that President Alvi’s visit sparked warm feelings for Pakistan, reflecting the close ties between the two nations throughout history. “However the world changes, long live Pak-China friendship!”

President Alvi held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents. Alvi also met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Chairman, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said that South Asia remained relatively less affected by the novel coronavirus though it continued to spread globally.

“Yet no one can be sure how long the current situation can be maintained as the region is significantly short of medical resources. For Pakistan, this might be a serious situation and it needs to consult with China,” he said.

Since China began to see promising outcomes from its COVID-19 prevention and control, Pakistan was hoping to further promote the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which was of vital importance to Pakistan’s economic development, he added.

Qian said that the pandemic had to some extent influenced CPEC. Yet the impact had been limited, because the two countries had already laid a solid foundation for collaboration and visible achievements had been made.

“The virus could cause CPEC projects to slow but they have not stopped. Since the two sides are aiming to forge a closer China-Pakistan community of a shared future, CPEC is a long-term programme and won’t be hard hit by any temporary obstacle,” he added.

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