Bhai-bhai spirit won’t earn Pak a blank cheque from China

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http://www.firstpost.com/world/bhai-bhai-spirit-wont-earn-pak-a-blank-cheque-from-china-12301.html

For bhai-bhai bonhomie, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s ongoing visit to China is hard to top. In his public speeches and in discussions with Chinese leaders, Gilani has given voice to his desire to see China “shape the 21st century world” (from The Hindu).

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reciprocated the sentiment, emphasising that their two countries would “always be good neighbours, friends, partners and brothers — no matter how the international situation changes” (from Xinhua).

These statements are entirely in keeping with the syrupy sentiment that Pakistan’s ambassador to China invoked to sum up the relationship between their two countries as being “higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, stronger than steel, dearer than eyesight, sweeter than honey, and so on” (from The Economist).

In private briefings with the Pakistani media, Chinese officials appear to have gone farther, claiming that China had “warned… that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China” (from The News) – and that China advised Washington to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty.