Pakistan's Overwhelming Majority, Civil Society Friendly To China: Observers

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :The Chinese observers Thursday said there were no political forces or rebel groups in Pakistan who identified themselves as anti-China and anti-BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), as the overwhelming majority of Pakistani civil society was friendly to China.

"It is too early to draw a conclusion on whether the attack in Quetta was targeting the Chinese delegation," observers told Global Times.

They expressed the confidence that the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in the region would and must carry on, "as local support overwhelmingly prevails and Beijing will not flinch against any attacks".

However, the possibility that the local terrorists wanted to create bigger noise by targeting Chinese nationals could not be ruled out to advance their malicious domestic agenda, the observers said.

"Especially in the last few years, some countries have been capitalizing on terrorist forces in the region, including the use of black markets and hiring people to launch terrorist attacks to achieve certain political objectives," Wang Shida, Deputy Director of the South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania Research Institute of Contemporary International Relations Research academy of China, told the Global Times.

Wang pointed out that as China's overseas interests continued to expand, more security risks might surface.

Many Pakistani netizens sent heartfelt prayers and thoughts to those killed and wounded from the incident, while stressing the incident would not weigh on development toward prosperity and the "Pak-China friendship".� Local people have also expressed their confidence in the BRI project despite the unexpected terror attack in the province, home to the newly expanded Gwadar deepwater port that is key to the multi-billion investment in the BRI flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the region.

Fazal Kareem, a shopkeeper in Quetta, told the Global Times on Thursday:"We are very confident that these terrorists cannot gain from their bad motives and CPEC will grow and move forward with more strength and resilience of people." He added that as a friend to Pakistan, China had been trying hard to build the Gwadar port, which would ultimately change the economic situation of the locals for the better, as they would be the first to benefit from the development.

A deadly car bomb explosion that rocked a hotel in Quetta, capital of South western Balochistan province late Wednesday, has become the latest material for some Western media to exploit hours after the tragedy and to hype local resentment against the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in the region, citing the facility was hosting Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong.

The Pakistan officials, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan and the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the Chinese envoy was not present when the tragedy took place, as Nong was leading a delegation on a visit in Quetta.

Following the incident, Nong took to Twitter on Thursday to call his trip to the province an "impressive visit",and said he had held "effective communication with all stakeholders with regard to the SEZ [special economic zone] to secure its development and growth."�