New Delhi: Maryam Nawaz is Pakistan’s first female Chief Minister to visit China but many Pakistanis are busy ridiculing a picture on the internet that shows the PML(N) leader with a Chinese man. People think the politician looks like a coy would-be bride in the picture. They find it insulting and shameful.
As for the man in the picture, Pakistanis have let their imagination loose. While some are calling him a fake AirPods maker, others think he is the person who opens the door for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The Pakistani military junta dispatched Maryam Nawaz, the illegitimate Chief Minister of Punjab to China to beg. In response, the Chinese government sent a worker from a nearby fake AirPods factory to receive and meet her,” said Pakistan Walli on X.
Another user, Sprinkle Soul, said, “Yeh tu Railway ki Contractor company ka CEO hai. What a shame (Isn’t he the CEO of the company that handles contracts for the Chinese railway)”. Whether he meant it sarcastically or not, is unestablished.
Amid conjectures about the man’s identity and why Nawaz was made to meet officials who are not equal to her stature, there were parallel discussions on the chief minister’s posture as well. She was labelled as a woman about to sell drugs to a shy girl meeting her would-be groom for the first time.
“I don’t get her fake body language and facial expressions as well? I mean why is she continuously looking down, fake smiling as if some rishta karany wali aunty is sitting next to her! She is acting more like a woman going to be betrothed other than a CM!” X user Ammara Kazmi commented.
Many agreed, with one saying that she failed at “girlbossing” too.
“Why is she sitting jaisay rishta lenay aaya hai koi? Failing at girlbossing too,” said Miss Jasmine on X.
One user however decided to take it a notch higher and chose to make Maryam Nawaz a drug seller.
A parody account of the South Asia Index, which posts data-driven stories, simply wrote, “Maryam nawaz looks like she’s gonna open up her coat and try to sell drugs to this guy.”
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Confused, concerned, & curious
The CM is on an eight-day trip to China to discuss collaboration in agriculture, technology and combatting air pollution. However, Pakistanis are unsure if she can get any work done—her focus on beautifying herself might be a hindrance in the way of actual work.
Posting a cartoon of Maryam Nawaz and Xi Jinping shaking hands while the people of Punjab demand electricity, Halat-i-Watan, a media vigilance account on X, wrote, “#MaryamNawaz is in #China for 8 days to boost investments! Let’s just hope the Chinese are more interested in her economic proposals than Maryam Nawaz – after all, it’s about business, not a beauty show!”
Others said they didn’t want an “illegitimate” CM to speak on their behalf and made sure to register their protests, albeit in a wrong way. They chose to directly address the Chinese president on X. The microblogging platform is banned in China.
X user Maleeha Haider wrote, “Dear President Xi Jinping @ChinesePresXi , Maryam Nawaz Sharif has arrived in your country today. She has come to power by stealing Pakistani people’s mandate. One of the most corrupt, undeserving chief ministers in Pakistan’s history. Her government’s fascism has left hundreds of people homeless, grieving for loved ones recently shot point blank for peaceful protests and many unjustly incarcerated for months now. It will be a disgrace for the Republic of China to cater a criminal like her in any capacity.”
However, some also seemed outright “proud” of Maryam Nawaz’s achievements.
Saad Kaiser, a social media commentator shared a video of the CM’s interaction with Chinese officials and wrote, “Here, it looks like Maryam Nawaz is the Chief Minister of China, given the way @MaryamNSharif is analyzing the situation and our Chinese brothers are briefing her and extending protocol! Pakistan’s first-ever female CM in China. What a proud moment!”
Maryam Nawaz, meanwhile, said that the visit aims to strengthen Pakistan-China ties, focusing on modern infrastructure, healthcare, education, clean energy, and IT investment. During her stay, she oversaw the signing of an MoU to establish a robotic agricultural equipment plant in Punjab, emphasising technological advancement in farming, local media reported. Nawaz also termed China as a “miracle of a country”.
The irony is not lost on Pakistanis. “‘Promoting IT investments’, pehle Internet sahi karo,” wrote an account, TweetsofPR.
Some were also genuinely confused. “Is she the chief minister of Punjab or the foreign minister of Pakistan?” Mudassar Hasan Wani asked on X.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)