BEIJING A day after denying that any of its citizens had been involved, China confirmed Tuesday that Chinese technicians were taken hostage during a militant attack on a Pakistani naval base.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said technical staff of a certain enterprise had been on the naval base in Karachi and were taken hostage in the 16-hour siege, which began late Sunday and left at least 10 Pakistani security officers dead.
Speaking at a regularly scheduled news briefing, Ms. Jiang said she had no report that any Chinese had been injured. She did not say how many had been taken hostage.
The presence of Chinese technical staff members at the naval base, in Karachi, is another sign of Chinas growing involvement in Pakistan. Last week, Pakistans defense minister, Ahmad Mukhtar, said that China would take over management of the port of Gwadar, a Pakistani city, and that he would welcome having China build a naval port there.
Mr. Mukhtar made the statement after visiting Beijing with the Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani. Pakistani officials said Beijing had agreed to speed up delivery of jointly developed fighters.
China has been walking a careful line with Pakistan. It does not want to antagonize India, but it is eager to present itself to Pakistan as a more reliable and understanding ally than the United States, which in recent years has been stepping up criticism of Pakistan for harboring Islamist militants.
On Tuesday, for example, the government-run Xinhua news agency issued an analysis of the attack on the Karachi base. The article largely blamed the United States for the attack, saying Pakistan was paying the price for the recent American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/world/asia/25china.html?ref=china
Apparently, your government cares more about the bilateral relationship with Pakistan than the safty of your citizens.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said technical staff of a certain enterprise had been on the naval base in Karachi and were taken hostage in the 16-hour siege, which began late Sunday and left at least 10 Pakistani security officers dead.
Speaking at a regularly scheduled news briefing, Ms. Jiang said she had no report that any Chinese had been injured. She did not say how many had been taken hostage.
The presence of Chinese technical staff members at the naval base, in Karachi, is another sign of Chinas growing involvement in Pakistan. Last week, Pakistans defense minister, Ahmad Mukhtar, said that China would take over management of the port of Gwadar, a Pakistani city, and that he would welcome having China build a naval port there.
Mr. Mukhtar made the statement after visiting Beijing with the Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani. Pakistani officials said Beijing had agreed to speed up delivery of jointly developed fighters.
China has been walking a careful line with Pakistan. It does not want to antagonize India, but it is eager to present itself to Pakistan as a more reliable and understanding ally than the United States, which in recent years has been stepping up criticism of Pakistan for harboring Islamist militants.
On Tuesday, for example, the government-run Xinhua news agency issued an analysis of the attack on the Karachi base. The article largely blamed the United States for the attack, saying Pakistan was paying the price for the recent American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/world/asia/25china.html?ref=china
Apparently, your government cares more about the bilateral relationship with Pakistan than the safty of your citizens.
