China annoyed but undeterred

Chinese resolve to stay on in Pakistan should not deflect officials from addressing longstanding simmering issues

The April 26 suicide bombing on a van near the Confucius Institute at the Karachi University, killing three Chinese academics, came as a yet another shock, though not unsurprising. Understandably, China’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack, “demanded” Pakistan punish the perpetrators, protect Chinese citizens and prevent such incidents from happening again. “The blood of the Chinese people should not be shed in vain, and those behind this incident will surely pay the price,” it said in a statement.

This strong-worded message prompted speculation as to how annoyed the Chinese were on the latest loss of three of their citizens. But they are not oblivious either to China-focused acts of terror across Pakistan. Nor do they lack understanding on the dynamics of this kind of terror, particularly in areas where CPEC development projects are underway.

That is why the statement by a spokesperson within 48 hours of the initial response was much more measured and reflective of the nature of challenges flowing from geopolitics for both China and Pakistan.

“The Pakistani side is going all out to investigate and hunt down the perpetrators… I want to stress that terrorism is the common enemy of all humanity. China and Pakistan are resolved and able to keep terrorists at bay and make them pay the price,” Wang Wenbin, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, told a media briefing.

In fact the spokesperson reiterated as to how Beijing plans to take the bilateral relationship forward.

“China has always supported Pakistan’s national development. We will continue to support Pakistan’s economic and social development and improvement of people’s livelihood. The Pakistani government has pledged to strengthen security for Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan and not to allow any force to undermine the great China-Pakistan friendship and cooperation. We believe that the Pakistani side will earnestly take robust measures to ensure that China-Pakistan cooperation moves ahead in a safe and smooth manner,” Wenbin said.

Officials also underlined that any attempt to undermine China-Pakistan friendship and cooperation will be thwarted by the Chinese and Pakistani people. “We would also like to remind Chinese citizens, institutions, projects and personnel in Pakistan to take extra security precautions and pay close attention to security risks,” the foreign ministry in Beijing said.

Chinese officials also realise that the Baloch insurgency is not a low-intensity conflict anymore because of its possible links to proxy terrorism directed at China and its allies. Baloch militants have been tactfully targeting Chinese interests in Karachi, Gwadar and elsewhere. Back in August 2018, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists targeted the Chinese consulate in Karachi, followed by a similar attack in 2020 at the Pakistan Stock Exchange where the Chinese have major investments — nearly 40 per cent in terms of share-holding, according to some estimates.

The obvious objective is to shake the financial and trading nerve centre of Pakistan, mostly through suicide bombings. And this time the BLA engaged a female bomber. This indicates the terrorists’ strategy is also evolving with the passage of time, particularly after the alliance with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which introduced the fidayeen (suicide-bombers) attacks into the BLA tactics.

No surprise that the nexus between BLA, BNA (Baloch Nationalist Army) and TTP emerged stronger after the Afghan Taliban’s return to Kabul in August last year. At the core of the anti-China attacks is the Majeed Brigade of BLA — a unit which recruits, trains and produces fidayeen for the Baloch separatist movements and has claimed responsibility for all the three strikes in Karachi. While trying their best to endear local populations through community-focused work in various parts of Balochistan, Chinese officials and their companies view these outfits as instruments of proxy terrorism and hence not inclined to squarely blame Pakistan alone.

That the Chinese leadership is seized with the worrying consequences of geopolitics (Ukraine war and the US projection of China’s emergence as a big challenge to the US interests) is also evident from an initiative that President Xi Jinping unveiled in his keynote speech via video on April 25 at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022. President Xi introduced his vision of upholding “common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable” security for all and underlined that the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously and that no country’s security should be built at the cost of others’ security.

Following up on the initiative, Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrote in an oped that Xi’s vision contributes Chinese wisdom to addressing the peace deficit of humanity and coping with global security challenges, and his initiative meets the common aspirations of countries around the world to uphold multilateralism and safeguard international solidarity.

The Chinese resolve to stay on in Pakistan should, nevertheless, not deflect officials from addressing longstanding simmering issues such as under-development in Balochistan, alleged human rights violations, unemployment and missing persons. We need to openly address them in an inclusive way to forestall unnecessary speculation and criticism.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2022.

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