Written by | Dong Xin Li Yan
On the afternoon of April 26, local time, the shuttle bus of the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi in Pakistan suffered a suicide terrorist attack on the campus, which has killed 3 Chinese teachers, injured 1 Chinese teacher, and suffered many Other Pakistani casualties.
On the afternoon of April 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a regular press conference, and spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked questions by reporters on this matter.
There are two pieces of information that the Chinese side revealed for the first time after the attack:
First, it was a deliberately premeditated suicide terrorist attack on Chinese citizens.
Second, the Chinese side will work with the Pakistani side to pursue the murderer with all its might, so that the black hand behind the scenes will be severely punished by justice and pay a heavy price.
△ Picture from "Dawn Newspaper"
Deliberately premeditated terrorist attacks against Chinese citizens
This is the first time that China has given clear certainty about the terrorist attack.
Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan, and the University of Karachi was founded in 1951 as one of the oldest public universities in Pakistan. The Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi was jointly established in 2013 by the University of Karachi and Sichuan Normal University in China. Public reports show that at that time, the leaders of China and Pakistan also attended and witnessed the cooperation agreement on the establishment of Confucius Institutes.
According to the official website of the University of Karachi, the Confucius Institute is a non-profit educational institution aimed at exchanging Chinese language, deepening the understanding of Chinese and Chinese dialects and cultures, and promoting people-to-people exchanges between China and Pakistan. Since its establishment, it has developed from a small college to the largest Chinese language center in Pakistan.
The terrorist attack on the 26th occurred on the campus, killing 3 Chinese teachers and injuring 1 Chinese teacher.
Sichuan Normal University subsequently issued a statement saying that the Chinese victims were Huang Guiping, the chinese director of the Confucius Institute at karachi University, Ding Mufang, a public teacher, and Chen Sai, a volunteer, and the injured were Wang Yuqing, a public teacher.
At present, the injured Chinese teacher has been properly treated and is in the process of recovery.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on the 27th that the terrorist targets are directly aimed at teachers, the inheritors of human civilization and the promoters of cultural exchanges. China strongly condemns and greatly indignantly condemns this.
China and Pakistan went all out to pursue the murderer
This is the first time that the Chinese side has revealed that China and Pakistan will jointly pursue the murderer.
Zheng zhi noted that in July 2021, the attendance bus of the Dasu Hydropower Station project in Cape Province, which was built by a Chinese company, suffered an explosion on its way to the construction site, causing the death of many Chinese and Pakistani personnel. In response to the terrorist attack on Chinese personnel in Pakistan at that time, the Ministry of Public Security of China also sent criminal investigation technical experts to Pakistan to assist in the investigation.
After the attack, the killer had jumped out on his own.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries, declared responsibility for the incident, claiming that a woman from its suicide attack detachment, the Majid Brigade, had carried out the suicide attack.
Xinhua reported that the "Balochistan Liberation Army" often carried out terrorist attacks on security forces and civilians in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan announced the ban on the organization in 2006. At present, the organization has been recognized as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and other countries and regions.
△ Picture from "Dawn Newspaper"
Lu Wei, a security expert at China Antwei, pointed out in an exclusive interview with Zheng Zhijun that international terrorism threatens international trade, energy, logistics and transportation, and is the most realistic source of threat to the mainland's overseas interests.
Let me give you an example.
In November 2018, three illegal militants tried unsuccessfully to break into the Chinese consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, and were killed by Pakistani police in a subsequent exchange of fire. Afterwards, the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the incident.
In January 2019, Pakistan's counter-terrorism authorities announced that UAE law enforcement had arrested Rashid Baroque, a key figure in the Balochistan Liberation Army, who was accused of being the key "man behind the attack" of the Chinese consulate in Karachi, who contributed to the attack through financial operations, logistics and cash support.
After the terrorist attack on April 26, the head of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the head of the embassy and consulate in Pakistan demanded through multiple channels that the Pakistani side make every effort to do a good job in the rescue and treatment and aftermath, immediately investigate the matter thoroughly, arrest the murderer, and severely punish it according to law. Public reports show that the relevant departments of the local governments of Sindh and Karachi have now launched a comprehensive investigation and anti-murder work.
Wang Wenbin stressed at the news conference that terrorism is the public enemy of all mankind, and the blood of the Chinese will not be shed in vain. The Chinese side firmly supports Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts and will work with the Pakistani side to pursue the perpetrators with all its might, so that the black hands behind the scenes will be severely punished by justice and pay a heavy price.
"We will work closely with the Pakistani side to firmly combat terrorism and make the real perpetrators behind the scenes pay their due price." He said.
"Never let this happen again"
In the early morning of the 27th, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan issued an emergency reminder, reminding Chinese citizens, enterprises and projects in Pakistan to attach great importance to it, pay close attention to the local security situation, strictly prevent security risks, avoid going to places where people gather, do not go out unless necessary, and in case of emergency, call the police in time and contact the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in Pakistan for assistance.
Wang Wenbin introduced at the press conference that while all relevant departments and local governments in the country have acted quickly, divided their labor and cooperated, and done a good job in emergency response, they have asked the Pakistani side to take more effective measures to fully guarantee the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in Pakistan and never let such incidents happen again.
Lu Wei further suggested that foreign economic and trade, investment cooperation, and project construction should establish risk analysis, assessment, and early warning mechanisms at the professional, enterprise, and project levels, improve the internal security mechanisms of dispatched institutions and overseas projects, do a good job in the security precautions of overseas Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese personnel themselves, truly implement the requirements of "no training, no dispatch" and "who sends who trains", and carry out systematic overseas security training.
For medium- and high-risk areas, it is necessary to allocate security forces that are higher than the general level of the local area, and it is also necessary to establish friendship with the local people to deepen understanding, actively fulfill social responsibilities, and cultivate friendly feelings toward China.
"The hardcore friendship between China and Pakistan is unbreakable"
On the evening of April 26, Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz went to the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to offer condolences. The chief minister of Sindh Province, where karachi city is located, also went to the Chinese Consulate General in Karachi to offer condolences and quickly launched the rescue and aftermath and investigation and investigation of the murder, and the leaders of various parties and people from all walks of life in Pakistan also expressed their condolences and condolences.
Shabaz stressed that the Pakistani government is using all its strength to conduct an in-depth investigation of the incident, and will arrest the murderer at all costs and severely punish the perpetrators. The Pakistani government pledges to fully cooperate with the aftermath and take further measures to strengthen the security of Chinese, projects and institutions in Pakistan, and will never allow any force to undermine the great Friendship and Cooperation between China and Pakistan.
On April 27, when answering questions from Pakistan News Agency and Agence France-Presse reporters at a press conference, Wang Wenbin twice stressed that the hardcore friendship between China and Pakistan is unbreakable.
He said that any attempt to undermine China-Pakistan mutual trust and cooperation and the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will not succeed, and any attempt to undermine Sino-Pakistani friendship will end in failure.
Information | Xinhua News Agency, China News Agency, Global Times, etc
Proofreading | Luo Jing
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