There could perhaps be no more appropriate time for Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to be amongst our leadership than the post-WikiLeaks scenario of public outrage at their humiliating, at times even fawning, behaviour in private conversations with their American interlocutors. In their depression and as is their wont, our leaders, though, have chosen to go into a denial mode, notwithstanding the affirmation of US senior diplomat Richard Holbrooke that the leaks were a truthful reproduction of the cables. And if anything comes out bright and clear of their contents, it is the sneering contempt with which US leaders and their allies hold them. Our pro-Western ruling classes should now have strong reasons to dispossess themselves of any misgivings or reservations about the paramount need for Pakistan to go all the way to develop close strategic relations with Beijing. They should sit up and think. If the US marked tilt towards India, at the cost of Pakistans vital interests, and systematic efforts to weaken and destabilise us were not enough for them to think of other options maybe, the only promising option one would earnestly hope that the personal disgrace they have now suffered might prompt them to throw down the baggage of the West and grasp the opportunity Premier Wens presence in Pakistan provides to firm up our ties with China in an unequivocal manner. Our talks with Mr Wen and his address to the joint session of Parliament should prove a turning point in our rulers priorities in relations with states. China has not only been our long-standing friend, which has helped us build economically and strategically without the taint of strings, showing deep understanding of our needs and problems, but is also the rising star on the firmament that would, sooner than expected, eclipse the glow of the present superpower. The desperate barriers that are being erected to stem the tide of its influence would not be able to withstand the force of its genuine overtures of friendship to all who want to respond positively, supported by its growing economic and military might. The projects, with an outlay of over $13 billion, approved by the Pak-China Joint Committee on Economic, Trade, and Scientific and Technical Cooperation that met under the joint chairmanship of Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh and Chinese International Trade Representative in the Ministry of Commerce Gao Hucheng at Islamabad on Thursday, must be seriously taken up for execution. Besides, the proposal to raise the content of bilateral trade from the present $6.2 billion should not remain on paper only. While here, Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to sign several agreements with Pakistan, and to demonstrate that we have learnt our lesson and wish to change the thrust of our foreign policy we must spare no effort to implement them.