王義桅
“像西天取經(jīng)一樣充滿了曲折?!边@是筆者2017年率外交部南亞宣講團(tuán)在尼泊爾、巴基斯坦、阿富汗三國宣講“一帶一路”的切身感受。
從巴基斯坦飛往鄰國阿富汗,卻要到迪拜轉(zhuǎn)機(jī),中轉(zhuǎn)時間長達(dá)10個小時,幾天才會有一趟直飛航班。南亞的很多國家即便是鄰國也缺少互聯(lián)互通,交通非常不方便。非洲也是一樣的情況,不少鄰國間沒有航班,甚至沒有公路和鐵路連接。去一個非洲鄰國,有時需要先飛去巴黎再轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)回到非洲。
俗話說“要致富先修路,要快富修高速”。筆者還認(rèn)為,“要閃富通網(wǎng)路”,在一個國家的發(fā)展中,民生工程至關(guān)重要?!耙粠б宦贰背h提出后,很多國家愿意與中國合作,希望搭乘中國發(fā)展的“快車”。
“中國為什么發(fā)展這么快?”這是很多外國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的疑問。習(xí)近平主席曾這樣回答:中國走了一條符合本國國情的發(fā)展道路。
巴基斯坦的能源短板非常明顯,尤其是在用電方面。給中國來的朋友開電風(fēng)扇,是很高的待遇。巴基斯坦電費(fèi)很貴,且經(jīng)常停電,國內(nèi)第一大城市卡拉奇一年有1000多個人被熱死。到目前為止,世界上仍然還有11億人沒有用上電。
從衛(wèi)星上看夜晚的地球,只有日本、北美和歐洲發(fā)達(dá)國家和中國沿海地區(qū)燈火輝煌,而在其他地方看不見燈光。從側(cè)面可見,這些地方的人民依然生活在“貧困的黑暗”之中。
如何讓黑暗的地方燈亮起來?印度諺云:點(diǎn)一盞燈,讓世界亮起來?!耙粠б宦贰背h就是給廣大的發(fā)展中國家點(diǎn)一盞燈,讓普通老百姓看得到光芒,讓這些國家看到希望。
在巴基斯坦的一個小學(xué),一間小破屋,幾百個人擠在一起,席地而坐,連桌椅都沒有。孩子們的頭頂上,蚊子蒼蠅滿天飛,沒有電風(fēng)扇熱得要命?!盀槭裁此麄兩钤谶B電都沒有的時代里呢?”
2015年9月,習(xí)近平主席在聯(lián)合國總部提出“智能電網(wǎng)+特高壓電網(wǎng)+清潔能源”三位一體的全球能源互聯(lián)網(wǎng)計(jì)劃,體現(xiàn)了中國因地制宜、統(tǒng)籌協(xié)調(diào)、綜合施策的中國方案和中國智慧。
“一帶一路”沿線國家能源和需求分布不均衡。水能主要集中在中國西南、俄羅斯、東南亞等地區(qū);風(fēng)能主要集中在中國“三北”(東北、華北、西北)、蒙古國、中亞及俄羅斯北部沿海等地區(qū);太陽能主要集中在西亞、中國青藏高原等地區(qū)。
因此,構(gòu)建全球能源互聯(lián)網(wǎng),總體分為國內(nèi)互聯(lián)、洲內(nèi)互聯(lián)、洲際互聯(lián)三個階段,力爭在21世紀(jì)中葉基本建成。屆時,全球清潔能源比重可提高到80%以上;全球二氧化碳排放可控制在115億噸左右,僅為1990年排放量的一半,可實(shí)現(xiàn)全球溫控2℃以內(nèi)的目標(biāo);逐步形成電能主導(dǎo)、清潔發(fā)展的能源格局。世界將成為一個能源充足、天藍(lán)地綠、亮亮堂堂、和平和諧的“地球村”。
中國方案源于國內(nèi)的成功實(shí)踐一一西電東送、北電南供、水火互濟(jì)、風(fēng)光互補(bǔ)、跨國互聯(lián)的電力發(fā)展格局,如果國內(nèi)沒有互聯(lián)互通,如何實(shí)現(xiàn)全球互聯(lián)互通?
“己欲立而立人,己欲達(dá)而達(dá)人?!敝袊诤芏喟l(fā)展中國家眼中,已經(jīng)“達(dá)”了。而現(xiàn)在我們要“達(dá)”兄弟國家。“一帶一路”倡議與聯(lián)合國推動落實(shí)2030年可持續(xù)發(fā)展議程不謀而合,中國正在推動以發(fā)展為導(dǎo)向的“全球化”,以民生、基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施、實(shí)體經(jīng)濟(jì)為發(fā)力點(diǎn)。中國的改革開放使7億人脫貧致富,現(xiàn)在中國的“一帶一路”建設(shè)不以任何政治條件為前提,用資金搞項(xiàng)目,促進(jìn)相關(guān)國家的就業(yè),可以說是“功德無量”。
中巴經(jīng)濟(jì)走廊建設(shè)是“一帶一路”倡議下的旗艦項(xiàng)目,中國正在幫助巴基斯坦補(bǔ)齊能源及基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的短板,同時還幫助當(dāng)?shù)亟ㄔ旄劭?、建設(shè)開發(fā)區(qū)。以中國移動公司為例,21個中國年輕人雇用了3200個巴基斯坦“白領(lǐng)”,公司管理效率很高,大家都很珍惜這份工作。在巴基斯坦,能體驗(yàn)到“Zong”最快的4G速率。
“中國!”很多巴基斯坦人都會說這兩個漢字,中國人來了很多巴基斯坦人都會爭相合影。在那里,人人都知道中巴經(jīng)濟(jì)走廊。“中巴兩國友誼比喜馬拉雅山還要高,比印度洋還要深,比蜜還要甜,比鋼還要硬……”這是巴基斯坦人民常掛在嘴邊的話。
It is a journey full of twists and turns, just like the“Journey to the West.” That was how I felt when I led the South Asia-bound delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to preach on the Belt and Road in Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in 2017.
You have to transfer flight via Dubai if you are to fly from Pakistan to neighboring Afghanistan, which entails as long as 10 hours. A direct flight is only available every few days. In South Asia, many neighboring countries are not yet connected and thus inaccessible. The case is also true with Africa, where no flights are available among many neighboring countries, and in the worst scenario, there is even no highway and railway. An African has to fly to Paris before transferring to another African country.
As the saying goes, “To get rich, build a road; to get rich quickly, build a high-speed railway.” I also think that if we want to get rich immediately, we should build a network. It tells us that livelihood projects are essential to national development. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was initiated, many countries have expressed their willingness to cooperate with China and hitchhike on China’s economic development.
“How has China managed to develop so fast?” That is a common question among many foreign leaders. The answer of President Xi Jinping is: China has pursued a development road that fits its national realities.
Pakistan is confronted with serious energy shortage, particularly electricity. The highest courteous reception a Chinese people can receive in Pakistan is enjoying the coolness of an electric fan. The country faces high electricity price and frequent blackout. Each year, as many as 1,000-plus people die of heat in Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. As of today, there are still 1.1 billion people on the earth who have no access to electricity.
A bird’s-eye view of the earth from satellite shows that only in Japan, North America, developed European countries and coastal regions of China are well-illuminated at night, while the rest parts of the world are black. It tells us that people in these regions are still living in “the darkness of poverty”.
Then how to illuminate the dark regions? An Indian adage said: lit a lamp to lighten the world. The Belt and Road Initiative is designed to lit lamps in developing countries and bring light and hope to ordinary people.
In a primary school in Pakistan, several hundred students sit together on the ground of a shabby room with no desks and chairs. With mosquitoes and flies swirling overhead, the children are scorched in heat with the absence of electric fan. “Why they live in such a world devoid of electricity?”
In September 2015, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Energy Interconnection(GEI) plan in the United Nations Headquarters, a Chinese plan featuring Chinese wisdom where local conditions are considered, overall plans are made in a coordinated way, and holistic approaches are taken.
The energy of the countries along the Belt and Road is unevenly distributed: hydropower mainly concentrates in Southwest China, Russia, and Southeast Asia; wind power can mainly be found in Northeast China, Northern China, and Northwest China, Mongolia, Central Asia, northern coastal regions of Russia, and other areas; solar power is mainly in West Asia, China’s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and other regions.
Therefore, the developing of GEI consists of three stages: domestic interconnection, intra-continental interconnection, and inter-continental interconnection, aiming to complete the task by the mid of the 21st century. By then, the global share of clean energy will exceed 80%; the global emission of carbon dioxide will be capped at around 11.5 billion tons, only half of that of 1990, and global temperature rise will be less than two degrees centigrade; as such, an energy layout featuring the dominance of electricity and clean development will be shaped. Then the world will become a harmonious, well-illuminated “earth village” with abundant energy, blue sky and green land, and peace.
The China plan originated in the best practice at home: a power development pattern of power transmission from west to east and from north to south, mutual supply of hydropower and thermal power, mutual complementation of wind power and solar power, and trans-national interconnection. With no interconnection at home, global interconnection will be impossible.
“Help others to become independent if you are to be independent; help others to rise high if you aim high.” In the eyes of many developing countries, China is already a developed country that rises high. Now it is our task to help these countries to rise high too. The Initiative echoes with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China is pushing for a developmentoriented globalization, with livelihood, infrastructure, and real economy as drivers. China’s reform and opening up has lifted 700 million people out of poverty. The Initiative comes with no political conditions since it uses capital to launch projects and promote employment in relevant countries. That is why we can say that it is a project with boundless beneficence.
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a flagship project under the Initiative. China is helping Pakistan in shoring up its weak links in energy and infrastructure, and in building ports and constructing development zones. A case in point is China Mobile, where 21 Chinese young people employ 3,200 Pakistani white-collar workers. In the highly efficient company, everyone cherishes the job. In Pakistan, you can experience the fastest 4G.
“Zhong Guo(China)!” Many Pakistani can say the two characters and scramble to take photos with Chinese visitors. It is a country where everyone knows China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. “China-Pakistan friendship is higher than the Himalayas, deeper than Indian Ocean, sweeter than honey, and harder than steel...”, that is something on the lips of Pakistani people.