Beijing: China said on Thursday that the person killed in Karachi on Wednesday was not its citizen, refuting reports that the incident could be yet another targeted attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan.
“We express condolences for the victims of the relevant incident. To my understanding the relevant person is not a Chinese citizen,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here when asked whether it was a terrorist attack against Chinese nationals.
Pakistani officials on Wednesday said that a Chinese national was shot dead and two others injured when an unidentified gunman opened fire inside a dental clinic in Karachi.
The gunman entered the clinic area and opened fire, killing the assistant, Ronald Chow, on the spot and wounding dentist Dr Richard Hu Lee and his wife Margaret, SSP (South), Karachi, Syed Asad Raza said.
Recent reports said trouble is brewing between the all-weather friends with China increasingly getting critical of Pakistan’s failure in protecting Chinese workers who came under periodic attacks from the militant groups.
In April, three Chinese were killed in a suicide blast in Karachi University carried out by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which is opposed to China’s investments in Balochistan accusing China and Pakistan of exploitation of the resource-rich province.
Some of the other attacks were also attributed to radical Islamic militant outfits in Pakistan.
In July 2021, gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a vehicle carrying two Chinese factory workers at Karachi’s Nuclear Power Plant, wounding both.
In November 2018, the BLA insurgents tried to storm the Chinese consulate in Karachi’s Clifton area in which four people were killed including two policemen and two of the attackers.
With recurring attacks, China is reportedly pressing Pakistan to permit the Chinese security agencies to provide security for their personnel which according to press reports, Islamabad is resisting at it meant boots on the ground for Chinese armed forces.
