Chinese envoy interrogates Pakistan on security lapse

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zedong urged that the government should initiate action against all anti-China terrorist groups after two deadly attacks in Pakistan within just six months, The Express Tribune reported.

Militants have targeted Chinese citizens twice in the last six months, first in March and then in October, just 10 days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan.

Speaking at a seminar titled ‘China at 75’, Ambassador Jiang stressed that these attacks were “unacceptable” and stressed the need to step up security measures.

“It is very unacceptable for us to be attacked twice in just six months, and these attacks have also resulted in many deaths,” Ambassador Jiang said.

he/she said Beijing hopes the Pakistani side can further strengthen security measures to protect Chinese personnel, institutions and projects.

Furthermore, Jiang highlighted that security was the biggest hurdle for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and that “without a safe and healthy environment, nothing can be achieved.”

According to The Express Tribune, the ambassador’s comments came during a seminar organized by the Pakistan China Institute, where Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also spoke.

“Pakistan should give strict punishment to the criminals and take action against all anti-China terrorist groups,” the ambassador said. “Security is the biggest concern for China and an obstacle for CPEC in Pakistan,” he/she said.

During his/her speech, the envoy made clear that “Chinese President Xi Jinping cares about the security of the Chinese people and puts people’s lives first. he/she especially cares about the safety of the Chinese people in Pakistan. Every time he/she meets Pakistani leaders, he/she asks them to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects.

In response, Dar assured that Pakistan was taking action against terrorists and the progress would be shared during next week’s meeting between President Asif Zardari and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“The number of attacks on Chinese civilians is increasing because some powers in the world are not able to digest the Pak-China friendship,” Dar said.

he/she said that despite these challenging times, in recent meetings, Pakistan and China had agreed to take CPEC to the next level by deepening cooperation in the areas of trade, industrialization, digital economy, agriculture and renewable energy.

Furthermore, Dar criticized the United States for its strategy to prevent Beijing from becoming a global economic power. “China will be the largest economy in the times to come despite all the tools used against it, including increasing tariffs on its products by up to 200 per cent,” Dar said. “Increasing tariffs from 25 percent to 200 percent is nothing more than politics of using unfair means to prevent China from becoming a global supereconomic power.”