Cultural ties and Pakistan-China friendship
Muhammad Mehdi – Gwadar Pro
The Chinese new year for 2023 starts on January 22, which the Chinese celebrate with great pomp and ceremony. This year is associated with the sign of the rabbit, a cute rabbit with long ears. A lot of hopes are being expressed in this year of the rabbit for further growth and warmth in the relationship between Pakistan and China and it is hoped that the two brotherly countries will continue their efforts to move forward together.
The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad arranged a live telecast of the Chinese New Year press conference held in Beijing to the journalists so that the citizens of Pakistan could be aware of the important press conference through their local media. After this press conference, the second secretary of the Cultural Office of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan informed the reporters about upcoming programmes in connection with the Chinese Spring Festival celebrations. It is quite clear that the cultural ties between the two countries are strong and this bond will spread further in all spheres of Pakistani life and grow more with each passing day. Among the cultural delegations, Pakistani journalists will also have the opportunity to visit China and witness various aspects of the wonderful Chinese culture.
Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan and the capital of the largest province of Punjab. Therefore, the cultural activities carried out in this city have an impact on the entire country. Keeping this in view, in December, the Chinese Consulate in Lahore organised an exhibition of China’s intangible cultural heritage at the Lahore Art Gallery. This exhibition attracted a lot of people on the cultural front in Lahore and through such exhibitions, people of both countries get a better understanding of each other. On the occasion, Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren said that next year will be the year of China-Pakistan Tourism and Exchange and that China will host the Gandhara Art Exhibition in Beijing. He further said that this exhibition will serve as a good starting point for the year of China-Pakistan tourism and exchange and that the hearts of our people will beat together.
Another similar activity was seen at the end of December when the Chinese Consulate in Lahore gave the Friendship Award 2022 to 17 Pakistani citizens and four institutions. Such measures further strengthen the mutual relations between the citizens of Pakistan and China. And it also makes it clear that in terms of mutual trust, business cooperation, cultural and educational cooperation that China is doing in Pakistan, it is sincere to the extreme.
Culturally, an important activity that includes business activity from December 23 to January 2, 2023, when the 7th Sanya International Cultural Industry Fair was held in the coastal city of Sanya. More than 260 cultural and tourism organisations from 32 countries of the world participated in this exhibition and the happy thing is that Pakistan was included in these 32 countries. The Chinese have shown extraordinary interest in the Pakistan National Pavilion and this is a manifestation of promoting deep cultural harmony between the people of Pakistan and China as we connect more and more to know each other’s heritage, crafts, and culture from such type exhibitions. Sharing intangible intellectual wealth provided an opportunity to further understand each other. In this Pakistani pavilion, wooden handicrafts – hand-woven carpets, and Pakistani shawls were of special interest to Chinese people.
Regarding these cultural activities, we should keep in mind that cultures around the world are diverse, and civilisations are different. However, they are not designed for conflicts. The ultimate goal of cultures and civilisations is dialogue, tolerance, peaceful coexistence, harmony, and common development. And China, Pakistan are jointly trying to achieve the same common goal.
