'Unacceptable': China Issues Rare Rebuke To Pakistan Over Violence Against Its Citizens, Warns Of Investment Cuts

In a strong message to Pakistan, China on Saturday condemned the increasing attacks on its citizens by terrorists, saying it was "unacceptable" that they had been targeted twice within six months, Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong said at an event in Islamabad. Nearly seven Chinese citizens have died in suicide attacks since March."The security of Chinese citizens is paramount for President Xi (Jinping)," Zaidong said, adding that Beijing had conveyed these concerns in recent discussions between President Xi and the Pakistani government during Xi's recent visit to the country.Jiang warned that the violence against Chinese nationals was causing Beijing to reconsider investments under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He urged Pakistan to take effective measures to prevent further attacks.Pakistan called Zaidong's statement "perplexing", with foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch calling it a significant departure from the typical diplomatic norms observed between the two countries. Such public criticism from China regarding Pakistan is rare, as is Islamabad's response to the critique.There has been an uptick in cases of violence against Chinese citizens in recent times. In October, two Chinese citizens were killed and ten injured near Karachi airport, an attack claimed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army. In March, five Chinese engineers were killed in a similar attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Besham region.Since the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor a decade ago, 21 Chinese nationals have died in Pakistan due to attacks.