China values Pakistan’s crackdown on terror financing amid US criticism

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson asks international community to justly evaluate Pakistan's efforts

BEIJING: A Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson said on Tuesday that China highly valued active measures taken by the Pakistan government to strengthen financial supervision and crackdown on terrorist financing.

He also asked the international community to justly view and evaluate Pakistan’s efforts in the field of international anti-terrorism, instead of accusing it of bias and prejudice.

“We hope all concerned parties in the international community can give an objective and fair assessment of this,” Lu Kang said during his regular briefing.

When asked to comment on how did China view the role played by the international community in supporting Pakistan’s anti-terrorist efforts, he said, “My colleague and myself have said many times that the Pakistani government and people have made tremendous contributions and sacrifices to fighting terrorism.”

The statement came hours after a senior aide of the Trump administration pointed fingers at ‘ongoing deficiencies’ the Pakistan government has in implementing its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance regime.

Lisa Curtis, deputy assistant to the president and the US National Security Council’s senior director for South and Central Asia, also urged Islamabad to address the “continuing presence of the Haqqani network and other terrorist groups within its territory” in a statement earlier today.



The Chinese FO spokesperson said that whether it was on ground or in the area of counter-terrorism finance regime, Pakistan had made tremendous efforts, which were well-known to the international community.

Lu Kang remarked that as an all-weather strategic partner of Pakistan, China would continue to strengthen its communication and coordination and cooperation with Pakistan on the anti-terrorism issue.

To another question regarding China's support to Pakistan during the recent Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting, he said that China appraised Pakistan’s efforts and contributions in the field of international anti-terrorism.

The spokesperson said, “As I said just now, I will not repeat the above.” He also stressed in particular that Pakistan’s contribution and efforts were also reflected in the area of financial anti-terrorism.

“China gives high recognition to this. We hope all concerned parties in the international community can give an objective and fair assessment of this,” he added.