Pakistani top leadership’s show of solidarity with China over the killing of Chinese citizens in Karachi once again demonstrated that the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between China and Pakistan is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and any attempt to undermine mutual trust and cooperation is doomed to fail, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.
Addressing a regular briefing, he said following the attack at the University of Karachi, President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other lawmakers visited the Chinese embassy to offer their condolences.
“This once again shows that the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between China and Pakistan is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and that the attempt of terrorist forces to undermine the China-Pakistan mutual trust and cooperation is doomed to fail,” he said in response to a question.
The spokesperson said that Beijing would work with Islamabad to get to the bottom of the truth, bring the perpetrators to justice, and give a satisfactory explanation and answer to the people of the two countries.
China paid great attention to Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening the security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions, he added. “We are ready to work with Pakistan to ensure the smooth operation of our cooperation in a safe manner and prevent such incidents from happening again.”
On April 26, three Chinese teachers of Confucius Institute at Karachi University and their driver were killed when their shuttle van was hit by a suicide attack.
Soon after the incident, PM Shehbaz visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad and met China’s acting Ambassador Pang Chunxue to convey his condolences.
He instructed the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and assured the government would spare no efforts to apprehend the perpetrators and hold them accountable.
Zhao Lijian said that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s words are very true. His statement has reflected the shared voice of Pacific Island countries. It also proves that the US and Australia’s accusation against China is purely double-standard. What China and Solomon Islands conduct is normal security cooperation. It is intrinsically different from the practice of certain countries that creates regional tensions by forming small cliques for underhand maneuvers, and patching up military blocs to incite arms race, escalate nuclear proliferation risks and provoke bloc confrontation. The US should save the time of passing judgement on and willfully interfering in normal cooperation between other countries for earnestly fulfilling its commitment to remove unexploded World War Two ordnance and doing more concrete things for the people of Solomon Islands.
We have taken note of the situation. Chinese securities regulatory authorities have communicated with US regulatory authorities over this. To my knowledge, it is a step in enforcing domestic law for US regulatory authorities to add certain Chinese companies to the relevant list. It doesn’t mean these companies will inevitably be delisted. Whether they will be delisted or continue to be listed in the US depends on the progress and outcomes of cooperation between Chinese and US auditing and regulatory authorities.
China is committed to resolving auditing and regulatory issues concerning US-listed China Concept Stock companies through equal-footed cooperation, which is in line with the interests of Chinese and US capital markets and global investors. Both Chinese and US regulatory authorities have recently said to the press that they are maintaining close communication over auditing and regulatory cooperation and are working for progress in this area. We look forward to seeing cooperative arrangement reached by the two sides that conforms to regulatory requirements and legal provisions in both countries.
He said as to your first question, China has noted relevant reports and the fact that the DPRK has yet to released any information about it. Maintaining peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and promoting the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue meets the common interests of all parties in the region. We hope relevant parties will work in the same direction, conduct meaningful dialogue as soon as possible, and explore balanced and effective ways to resolve all parties’ concerns.
As to your second question, the inauguration of President Yoon Suk-yeol is a major event of our friendly neighbor the ROK. China and the ROK are maintaining communication over the attendance of a high-level representative at the inauguration ceremony of President Yoon Suk-yeol. We will release information in due course. Please stay tuned.
