BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Pakistan to protect the safety of Chinese nationals and projects, as he met with Pakistan’s army chief who was on his first visit to Beijing since his country’s recent clashes with India.
Over the years China has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects in Pakistan under the Belt and Road Initiative.
But security concerns have mounted, with Chinese workers repeatedly targeted in what Beijing has called “terrorist attacks” in the South Asian nation.
“China supports Pakistan in resolutely combating all forms of terrorism and hopes that the Pakistani military will continue to make every effort to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions,” Wang said during the meeting on Thursday with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
He reaffirmed China’s “ironclad” friendship with Pakistan, saying that Beijing would continue to prioritise the country in its neighbourhood diplomacy.
Munir also met with China’s Central Military Commission vice chairman Zhang Youxia on Friday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
Beijing has pushed Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to Chinese citizens on the ground, after a car bombing in the southern port city of Karachi that killed two Chinese engineers in October last year, Reuters reported.
(Reporting by Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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