Li in Pakistan: China talks sweet, but doesn’t want to be sugar daddy

by Praveen Swami May 22, 2013 | http://www.firstpost.com/world/li-in-pakistan-china-talks-sweet-but-doesnt-want-to-be-sugar-daddy-805327.html
It was stronger than the strongest Baijiu and headier than the finest Peshawar weed, whatever it was that they’d had that fine day in December, 2010, when Pakistan’s legislators gathered to celebrate their friendship with China. “Taller than mountains”, sang out former Pakistan prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, “deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey”. Former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao demonstrated a similar talent for mush, calling the friendship a “lush tree with deep roots and thick foliage, full of vigour and vitality”.
Today, as Chinese premier Li Keqiang lands in Islamabad on a high-powered diplomatic mission—rendered somewhat farcical by the fact there isn’t a prime minister to meet—the world is bracing itself for another deluge of awful metaphors.
UPDATE: (The Dawn reports metaphorical progress in China-Pakistan ties, with Li Keqiang as saying “the tree of China-Pakistan friendship is now exuberant with abundant fruits)