“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,” wrote Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities.

Two speeches delivered an hour and many oceans apart last week vividly brought back images from Dickens’ world. Those speeches underlined the opposing approaches that the heavyweights and Pakistan’s largest trading partners — China and the US — are pursuing to achieve their economic ambitions and shape the future of the rest of the world.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s address while delivering the annual work report to the National People’s Congress shows that for China, it is all about unity and global cooperation to overcome the obstacles through “innovation and opening up” to revive its troubled economy.

Pakistan’s largest trading partners — Beijing and Washington — continue to walk on diverging paths

President Donald Trump’s pledge during his State of the Union address to levy more tariffs on imports, on the other hand, represents Washington’s growing reliance on protectionist trade policies that stand to upset the global economic order and start a global trade war.

The contrast in the policies that the two powers will be pursuing to pull off their national goals is unmistakable. While Mr Trump was all for protectionist policies to “make America great again”, Mr Li vowed to “remain steadfast in our........

© Dawn Business