The Pakistani bus explosion that caused heavy casualties among Chinese people has been happening for several days, the Chinese side attaches more importance to this incident than usual, from Foreign Minister Wang Yi, to Premier Li Keqiang constantly appear to take a stand, 17, Chinese Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi even with the Pakistani Interior Minister emergency call, said “President Xi Jinping made an important instruction,” but However, the two sides do not fully agree on whether the incident is a terrorist attack or an accident. The official media Global Times said that the Chinese side could not “leave things to the Pakistani side”, and did not hesitate to use the “War Wolf” line “though far will be punished”!
The two governments’ accounts of the incident differ
On July 14, an explosion occurred on a shuttle bus carrying a number of Chinese engineers to the Dasu hydropower station in the northern Pakistani province of Cape, killing at least nine Chinese and three Pakistanis.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on July 14 that it was a “bombing attack”, and the Pakistani Foreign Ministry issued a statement the same day that it was caused by a mechanical failure that led to a gasoline leak that caused one of the commuter shuttles to fall into a ravine.
On the 15th, Pakistan’s information minister said that the possibility of a terrorist attack could not be ruled out. On the same day, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s statement is intriguing, he described it as a “serious casualty incident”, “hope that the Pakistani side quickly identify the cause of the incident”, “if it is a terrorist attack, to immediately apprehend the culprits, and severely punish the perpetrators. “Wang Yi’s statement is still between two possible.
The Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang stepped in on the 16th and explicitly pointed out that this was a “terrorist attack in Pakistan”, demanding that the Pakistani side must bring the perpetrators to justice. 17, Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi said Xi Jin made an important instruction, and with Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rashid The “emergency call”, demanding that the criminals immediately rope to justice, he also said he had sent technical experts in criminal investigation to Pakistan to assist in the investigation, Rashid said Pakistan to “make up for the shortcomings”, “to find out the truth ” “to strengthen the security of Chinese institutions in Pakistan”.
An AFP report on the 17th said that there is still a clear disagreement between China and Pakistan on the nature of the incident.
China’s concern exceeds normal
In April, the hotel where the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan was staying was the target of a terrorist attack that killed at least four people and injured dozens more, but left the Chinese ambassador unharmed. The casualties in Pakistan, which Beijing considers an “old friend,” seem to have been taken more seriously than ever before, with concern spiraling from the Chinese foreign minister to the minister of public security to Premier Li Keqiang, after Xi Jinping’s instructions.
One netizen said, “There was a time when the safety of Chinese citizens overseas could receive such a high degree of attention and protection from their own government, which seemed to be the global privilege of U.S. citizens only, which was infinitely saddening and enviable! Nowadays, China is becoming more and more like the US in many ways, and the global power of the Chinese is getting closer to that of the US ……”
Is this Beijing learning from the US? Indeed, the US refuses to let go of even one citizen in distress overseas. Is this a show of great power by Xi Jinping, or is it a humanitarian display? Some analysts tend to believe that China has major interests in Pakistan, a key country in Xi’s “One Belt, One Road” and that Beijing has invested heavily in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. When Li Keqiang spoke with the Pakistani side, the other side told Li Keqiang that it would strengthen security measures to ensure the safe and smooth operation of Pakistani-Chinese cooperation projects.
It seems that the Chinese side is not satisfied with the protection and investigation of the case, judging from its three orders to the Pakistani side, an “all-weather strategic partner”, to “make every effort to prevent similar incidents from happening again” and to send criminal investigation personnel to assist. When asked by Reuters whether the Chinese side is satisfied with the measures taken by the Pakistani side to protect Chinese citizens, Zhao Lijian only said in general terms, “We appreciate the fact that the Pakistani side has expressed its high regard for ….. ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan”, he also did not forget to add a sentence: “China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners with unbreakable traditional friendship and political mutual trust”
Global Times kills it
This is a recognized tragedy, whether it is a terrorist attack or an accident, it is a tragedy, if it is a terrorist attack, it will be handled as a terrorist attack case, chase the suspects, bring them to justice and reveal the truth, if it is an accident, pursue the cause of the accident, compassionate the victims, compensate the families, etc.
But the official media Global Times’ “sharp commentary” on July 16 was very aggressive, accusing the PA of “serious security loopholes” on the one hand, and saying “China has to clearly tell the anti-government forces in Pakistan that whoever carries out terrorist attacks on Chinese personnel and projects, they are putting themselves in the position of China’s enemies, and China will resolutely support the Pakistani government in eliminating them.
The newspaper’s tone was condescending, saying on the one hand that “Pakistan is a sovereign country” and on the other that “if the situation deteriorates, China cannot leave things to the Pakistani side” and that China can send special forces and other forces to participate in joint operations. The Chinese side can send special forces and other forces to participate in joint operations to “eradicate the threat to Chinese targets in Pakistan and make an example of them”.
The next paragraph of the Rovian sharp commentary is puzzling, is it a show of nationalism or an expression of anger? “We have to prove to people in some troubled countries that the Chinese are not to be messed with and especially not to be killed. Anyone who lays hands on the Chinese is asking for their own destruction.”
What countries are the countries in turmoil in the eyes of the Global Times, and why does it single out the Chinese as not to be messed with or killed, but can other people be messed with or killed?
The Global Times article even ends with a line from the movie “War Wolf”, threatening that “those who carry out terrorist attacks on our compatriots will be killed, even if they are far away. The overall feeling one gets is that one is declaring war with a huge and unparalleled imaginary enemy!
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