China to the rescue Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif has said in Guangzhou, China, that his talks with the Chinese leadership had been highly beneficial, productive, and beyond even his expectations. Nevertheless, the economic and particularly energy crisis was so serious that tough decisions would have to be taken to overcome them. In response to the Chinese leadership’s concerns about the safety of their citizens in Pakistan, the PM had assured them that his government would provide them foolproof security. This assurance may or may not be possible to translate into reality, simply because so far at least, successive governments have been unable to protect Chinese workers on projects, particularly in remote areas, or the mountaineers killed in Diamer recently. However, if the Chinese cooperation is to be optimally utilised, it is critical that their personnel inside Pakistan are provided security in the first place, and ‘foolproof’ security as far as possible. The PM pointed out that the Gwadar-Kashgar economic corridor would be a ‘game-changer’, benefiting three billion people in the region. Other important projects discussed include the Karachi-Lahore motorway, a bullet train between Peshawar and Karachi, mass transit networks in Karachi and Lahore, and the long delayed 969 MW Neelum-Jehlum hydropower project. On the energy front, the PM underlined Pakistan’s approach to switch as far as possible to coal-fired generation, embellished to the extent possible by solar and wind power to bring down the average cost of generation. The PM asked one of the largest Chinese power generation companies to assist Pakistan in cutting down line losses and theft as a first step. He also hoped Pakistan-China trade could be increased beyond the present $ 12 billion While Nawaz Sharif’s well known penchant for large (and sometimes showpiece) projects was obviously the underlying message in the talks with the Chinese, the cause for satisfaction on the Pakistani side is that as usual, the Chinese have come forward unhesitatingly in support of tackling Pakistan’s serious energy crisis and other infrastructural development projects. However, while the Chinese side’s generosity and efficiency are settled issues, our side needs to review and take a fresh look at our capacity to absorb this help. Inefficiency, corruption, sheer neglect have often characterized our way of doing things, particularly the implementation of crucial national projects. For example, the received wisdom is that the three decades delay in the Neelum-Jehlum hydropower project owed more to mismanagement and the greed of officials wanting a cut to clear the machinery for the project rather than any inherent flaw in the design. The Chinese locomotives case in the Lahore High Court asserts that the Chinese sent poor quality engines and rolling stock for the railways. The Chinese side of the story is that Pakistan provided the wrong specifications, hence the problems. One is at a loss sometimes who or what to believe. Despair at such shenanigans is justified, but even more important, such bottlenecks and inefficiencies have to be put firmly in the past. We should not test Chinese goodwill and friendship beyond breaking point. Also, the concept of bullet trains and other modern transport systems sounds like a fairy tale when the horrible accident between a train and rickshaw overloaded with passengers at an unmanned, ungated railway crossing the other day is recalled. It is all very well to induct modern systems such as bullet trains in a developing economy as role models, but this should not be at the expense of general upgrading of systems, infrastructure, and minimum safety regulations. While it is natural under the straitened economic circumstances to put so many eggs in the Chinese basket, this cannot be allowed to be frittered away by our inefficiencies and corrupt practices. Perhaps then it is a good idea as the PM said, to create a ‘China Cell’ to oversee cooperation in and implementation of projects China commits to.