A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday emphasized that China and Pakistan were all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron-clad brother and declared that no attempt to undermine cooperation between the two countries would succeed.
China and Pakistan were all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron-clad brothers, and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) greatly contributes to the socioeconomic development of Pakistan. No attempt to undermine China-Pakistan cooperation will succeed, Lin Jian said during his regular briefing in response to a question about a terrorist attack causing casualties of five Chinese citizens in Pakistan.
While strongly condemning this act of terrorism, he expressed deep condolences over the loss of lives and extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved families.
He said, after this attack, the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs and Chinese embassy in Pakistan immediately activated emergency response mechanism, swiftly took emergency response, engage in close communication with Pakistan in Beijing and Islamabad and asked to thoroughly investigate the incident as soon as possible, hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
We asked Pakistan to take effective measures to protect the safety and security of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects in Pakistan, he added.
Lin Jian informed that Pakistani side promised to thoroughly investigate this incident and share the progress to the Chinese side in a timely manner and further strengthen the security measures to ensure safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
The spokesperson said, China opposes all forms of terrorism, firmly supports Pakistan in fighting terrorism and will work with Pakistan with even stronger commitment to do everything possible to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
After the incident, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to convey condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and the Chinese government.Â
He strongly condemned the terrorist attack and said that terrorists attempt to harm Pakistan-China friendship will never succeed.
On the same day, President Asif Ali Zardari, the Foreign Minister, the Interior Minister, and several other political figures strongly condemned the attack and expressed condolences over the lives lost, he added.
China affirms that terrorism is a common enemy of mankind, he said and added, it is a shared responsibility of international community to fight terrorism and ensure that tragedy will not repeat again.
He said, China is working with Pakistan on the follow-up work with all-out effort and asked Pakistan to thoroughly investigate the incident as soon as possible, hunt down perpetrators and bring them to justice.
The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan has reminded Chinese citizens and businesses in Pakistan to closely follow the local security situation, take extra safety precautions, strengthen security measures and do their best to guard against terrorist attacks.
The spokesperson said, the Chinese side will continue to support the economic and social development and improvement of livelihood of Pakistan and deliver concrete cooperation and benefits to the people of two countries.
On March 26, five Chinese and one Pakistani nationals were killed in a terrorist attack on the vehicle of the Dasu Hydropower Project undertaken by a Chinese company in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
