China’s confidence in Pakistan’s security ‘shaken’
There may have been no departure of Chinese workers from Pakistan following the Karachi University attack, but their confidence shattered about the country’s ability to protect them.
“The Chinese confidence in Pakistan’s security system’s capableness to protect their nationals and their projects is badly undermined,” said Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the Senate Defence Committee.
Senator Mushahid, who led a Senate delegation to the Chinese Embassy last week, conveyed his condolences on losing three chinenes in a suicide attack on their van at Karachi university the last month.
The attack on Chinese nationals at Karachi university was the third incident of terrorism against Chinese nationals in Pakistan this year.
“This has caused grave concern and understandable outrage in China. In addition, the attacks are repeated and it is clear that the Pakistani promises of “foolproof security” are nothing more than words without any counter-measures on the ground,” he said.
According to social media reports, many Chinese workers left Pakistan after the attack.
A Chinese source said it is baseless, adding that it was a steady flow of Chinese workers and citizens living in Pakistan on a weekly flight from Karachi that was touted by some as an “exodus”.
The source pointed out, however, that terrorist attacks have an impact on the confidence of the Chinese community here.
The cyber-crime wing of the FIA said that the tweet claiming that thousands of Chinese were leaving Karachi airport because of threats was a “groundless video tweet that creates panic”.
At a press briefing in Beijing, The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lijian Zhao, expressed the hope that “the plot of terrorist forces aimed at undermining mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries will not succeed”.
He said the Chinese side would work with Pakistan to carry out an in-depth investigation, reveal the truth, bring the perpetrators to justice, and explain to the people of both countries.
China, he said, emphasized the importance of strengthening Pakistan’s security measures to protect Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan and was prepared to work with the Pakistani side to ensure safe and smooth progress in bilateral co-operation and prevent similar occurrences in the future.