The Peoples Republic of China is going to celebrate its 59th birthday this Wednesday, 1st of October 2008, which will mark the two golden weeks in the country. China gained its independence when the Central Peoples Government passed the resolution on December 2, 1949 and declared October 1 as the national day of China.
October 1 is celebrated throughout China, Hong Kong and Macau. Tiananmen Square, the largest square of the world in the capital Beijing, is decorated with festive themes for flag hoisting ceremony which will be witnessed by scores of proud Chinese.
It is a day when the five starred national flag will hoist high and proud and the national anthem, generally known as "The March of the Volunteers" will echo throughout the country. In this article we will take a journey through China, the world's largest populated nation and see its different colors and reforms which have made Chinese a proud nation throughout the world and made them celebrate their independence day with great fervour, pomp and show.
China is a cultural state and the most ancient civilisation in the East Asia. In the past it remained as a centre of arts and science with the world`s most constantly used written language system. In late 1978 the Chinese shifted there economy from the Russian type of centralised economy to a more market oriented economy, due to which the living standard of the general masses has improved dramatically.
Half of China's economy has been privatised in the past three decades under the socialism with China characterises. Now the People's Republic stands as the world's fourth largest economy and the third largest exporter and importer of goods. It is fast growing to become the world's number one economic power. The Chinese economy has grown by 8.3% in the year 2008 and it is expanding its exports to all parts of the world.
China has socialist form of political system which represents the working class based on the working peasant union and practising People`s democratic centralism. The National Peoples Congress holds the highest authority in the state power with local People's Congresses as the local authorities.
The party in power is the Communist Party of China. China, in its old history, has created some of the finest heroes of the time and the country is still a cradle of numerous brave hearts who can rightly be called as national heroes. The prominent heroes of ancient china are Bao Gong and Bao Chao while modern China heroes are Mao Zedong and Yang liwei.
This year Chinese Independence Day means a lot to the Chinese people because the true colors of China were evident to the whole world when china hosted the 2008 summer Olympic games in such a manner that this great nation won big accolade. The events started from August 8, in which a total of 10,500 athletes from all over the world participated, made China as the 22nd nation to host the Olympics.
The Chinese Government promoted the game and invested heavily in it. The games were unique in the sense that a total of 43 new world records and 132 Olympic records were made. Chinese athletes stole the show by grabbing the maximum number of medals in the Olympics with a total of 51 gold medals. The bird nest stadium presented itself as a basket of flowers and the opening and closing ceremonies were attended by several Heads of State.
Since its independence Pakistan has remained a close friend of China. The two countries have very close strategic and cultural ties based on friendship. The Chinese government has always extended great support to the Pakistani government in times when it was much needed and is working on major developmental projects in Pakistan. Trading is being done between the two countries through the Silk Route. On this auspicious day of the independence of the Peoples Republic of China, myself and the Pakistani people, take this opportunity to congratulate the Chinese people and to assure our brotherly country that our hearts beat with them.
Pak-China friendship - Zindabad.
(The writer is Secretary General of Pakistan-China Friendship Association NWFP Email: syeed.gilani@gmail.com)