The writer is an Islamabad-based physicist and author. WHEN Prime Minister Imran Khan categorically endorsed China’s line on Uighur Muslims he succumbed to political expediency: “Because of our extreme proximity and relationship with China”, he said, “we actually accept the Chinese version.” A savvier politician facing the Chinese media might have tried a little hemming and hawing rather than dispense with truth, human rights and Muslim solidarity. Still, one must not be too harsh on the PM; any country which owes its life to a powerful patron has little leeway. Much loved by some but feared by others, China today is an economic superpower. Geopolitics changed in 2017 when its GNP shot above that of the US. But what accounts for its phenomenal rise and ferocious progress? Equally, one may ask: why has Pakistan been on external life support from 1947 onward and barely limped along? The difference cries out for an explanation.